Jamie Carragher believes that Arsenal’s hopes of winning the Champions League could possibly be dealt a fatal blow in the event that they don’t win the Premier League.
The Gunners have the chance to secure a famous double after knocking out Atletico Madrid to succeed in their first Champions League final since 2006.
Mikel Arteta’s side will now face defending champions Paris Saint-Germain in the ultimate, which takes place later this month in Budapest.
Before that, though, Arsenal will turn their attention back to the league, where they’re in pole position after Manchester City’s costly draw with Everton on Monday.
A possible banana skin awaits on Sunday against relegation-threatened West Ham, but Carragher believes a win on the London Stadium will all-but guarantee Arsenal the title.
Speaking on the 2026 Women’s Football Awards on Thursday, he told Metro: ‘That’s the sport that may go either way, but when Arsenal recover from the road against West Ham, I can’t see them messing it up from there.
‘When you concentrate on it, it could arguably be the most important game of the season. But for a number of other teams, it’s probably the most important game for West Ham. They must get something.
‘It’s an enormous game for Tottenham, due to angle of West Ham. It’s an enormous game for Man City, due to Arsenal’s situation. I just think that game on the weekend is so big, not only for the 2 teams involved, it’s huge for each of them. But in addition what it does for City and Tottenham.’
Nevertheless, in the event that they do fail to win the league from this position, Carragher fears that Arsenal will struggle to summon the emotional reserves to take the fight to PSG the next weekend within the Champions League final.
‘That game will likely be an actual problem in the event that they don’t win the league,’ he added. ‘I feel that’ll be an issue. Yes, you desire to win every part, but I feel Arsenal actually need to win the league.
‘They wouldn’t turn their noses up on the Champions League, but I feel Liverpool were in that situation a couple of years ago, where they’d gone so long without winning the league that they simply wanted it done.
‘For me, more often than I at all times say, the Champions League is an even bigger trophy to win. But I feel whenever you’ve gone so long without the league, they’ll be desperate for that.
‘But I feel in the event that they win it, which they need to do, the position that they’re in at once, I feel it’ll give them an enormous boost.
‘They may need that going into the ultimate. I feel everyone knows PSG are the higher team, but that doesn’t mean Arsenal can’t win a one-off game.’
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