Arsenal: Why Sunday's Match Is the Most Important Since the 2006 UCL Final

If we are to follow Arsene Wenger's logic, then Sunday's match away to West Bromwich Albion is set to bear the same potential importance as the 2006 Champions League final—Arsenal's last appearance in a major title match.

(I decided to neglect the 2007 and 2011 Carling Cup finals, as they do not bear the same significance as glory in Europe's premier club competition. I'll get into that in a bit. Like, within two sentences.)

While some have been quick to laugh off Wenger's lowered expectations in regards to what exactly denotes "silverware" at the Emirates these days, Sunday's match, which could guarantee the Gunners a third-place finish in the league standings and thus automatic inclusion in next season's Champions League, has taken on the illustrious sheen of a title bout.

There are several reasons for the logic behind that previous statement.

1. As we learned with the pursuit of transfer target Mikel Arteta last August, the prospect of Champions League football is crucial for attracting top talent to the club.

Wenger has said that he hopes the signing of FC Cologne striker Lukasz Podolski will help convince star striker Robin van Persie (who is out of contract in 2013) to stay on at the club, but one would have to think that Champions League football will sway the Dutchman far more readily than would the chance of playing with Podolski in the Europa League.

2. Should Arsenal lose to or tie West Brom—and that former possibility is by no means out of the realm of possibilities—they could miss out on third place should Tottenham, currently one point behind the Gunners in the league standings, take care of business at home against Fulham.

That seems a very likely possibility even with Fulham's recent resurgence in form, which has seen the Cottagers defeat both Liverpool and Sunderland in their past two games.

Then there's the case of Newcastle, two points behind the Gunners in fifth, who fell to Manchester City 2-0 over the weekend. Should Arsenal suffer a tie on Sunday and Newcastle win against Everton, the two teams would be level on points.

Arsenal have an ace in the hole in their goal differential, however, which is 17 superior to that of the Magpies'.

Thus, the worst Arsenal can do, barring some Toon victory of astronomical proportions, is fourth.

But this is where the plot thickens.

3. If Chelsea win the Champions League final on May 19, then they will gain automatic entry to next season's competition.

The problem becomes, then, that the Blues will take the place of the EPL's fourth-placed finisher, since the Premier League will already have four teams in place with Chelsea's inclusion.

(UEFA once allowed five EPL teams into the '05-06 Champions League—Everton had finished in fourth place, one ahead of Liverpool, but the Reds' triumph in Istanbul gave them a then-unseen fifth bid to the tournament. Suffice to say, UEFA have since taken measures to to avoid a repeat occurrence.)

Thus, the fourth-place team will drop to the Europa League—something Arsenal will be keen to avoid. (See: attempt to keep Robin van Persie.)

The trip to the Hawthorns, then, becomes one of utmost importance from an Arsenal perspective. Albion are certainly beatable, but they're quite stingy at home. The prospect of a draw is not an unfounded one at the moment.

And should Arsenal fail to capture third, and thus throw their potential inclusion in next season's Champions League in jeopardy, it could signal the unraveling of all they've worked for this season.

Would Van Persie stay on for another season?

The Baggies have allowed just 19 league goals in 18 matches at home and none in their last three, tying them with Manchester United for 10th place in that respective category. (They have also only managed to score 19 goals at The Hawthorns this season.)

Arsenal will take heart that visiting Newcastle United put three past the Baggies on March 25 (Toon won that game 3-1,) but it appears manager Roy Hodgson has since succeeded in stemming that leak.

While Hodgson may have his mind elsewhere for the match—remember how Bordeaux slumped fantastically in the latter portions of the '09-10 season after manager Laurent Blanc was tipped for the managerial post of France—Baggies No. 1 Ben Foster would quash a recurrence of that particular plot development.

"[Hodgson] lives and breathes football," Foster told the Mirror on May 2. "It is everything to [him.]"

That level of dedication is one reason Albion currently find themselves in 10th place in the league standings.

They've earned that placement not through offensive fireworks (Peter Odemwingie is their highest league scorer with 10, and the club's goal differential is minus-six), but rather through a cohesive defense and an ability to grind out the necessary results, taking points where they can get them.

That steely demeanor will be on full view Sunday, as the Baggies will be tasked with containing what should be an Arsenal side intent on inflicting maximum damage early on in the proceedings so as to circumvent any frantic final moments and checking of scores around the league (Tottenham kickoff against Fulham at the same time as West Brom-Arsenal on Sunday.)

All signs point to the Gunners breaking their recent trend of draws (they've taken three points from their last three league matches), but then, this season has taught us to take what we'd hope to expect and send it flying out the window.

Who would have thought Arsenal would even be fighting for third back in September? Who would have thought Arsenal would recover from that terrible week in February, when they lost 4-0 to AC Milan and 2-0 to Sunderland?

But recover they did. On them to prove to us once more that they have the necessary bottle to finish their most current "salvaging" job. It's become something of a theme this season, and while it's faded from the forefront somewhat in recent weeks, there's no reason to think Arsenal can't find it within themselves to sail unencumbered into third place in the final league standings.

If they do, they'll have passed their greatest test since that disappointing '06 Champions League final at the Stade de France, where they slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Barcelona.

They were denied Champions League glory that night, but they can recover some small snippet of it on Sunday in the guise of automatic qualification.