LONDON — The message from Arsenal was clear after their big north London derby win against Tottenham on Wednesday: we’re back in the title race, for real.
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After the win Mikel Arteta was asked if Arsenal are in the title race as they’ve cut Liverpool’s lead at the top to four points, albeit Arne Slot’s side do have a game in-hand.
“Yeah we are,” Arteta said. “Because there is so much to play for and we can see how difficult it is for every team to win.”
Even though Arsenal had a tough week as they suffered back-to-back home defeats in cup competitions to Newcastle and Manchester United, they’re still in a great position in the Premier League to catch Liverpool.
The energy and vibe around the Emirates is positive and to sum it up, Arsenal basically want to do whatever they can to grind out the wins they need to make the title a reality. They did that on Wednesday and that is their plan for the rest of the season.
Arsenal confident of catching Liverpool
The Gunners are on an 11-game unbeaten run in the Premier League. They’re the only team still unbeaten at home. They’ve also conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League this season. The mood of everyone connected with the club was positive, despite damaging injuries impacting their attack, and they sense they can chip away at Liverpool’s lead over the next few weeks and months as surely they will become more clinical in front of goal.
Asked if Arsenal are confident of catching Liverpool after cutting their lead to four points, David Raya was pretty straightforward in his assessment of the title race.
“Yeah, of course. In football everything can happen,” Raya said. “We just have to focus on ourselves. Next training session, next recovery and next game. Don’t think too much ahead because that will play badly against us. Focus on ourselves, focus on the next game. Don’t think too much about the future. Just live the present. That is the most important thing.”
In the present, despite injuries piling up Arsenal now have some real momentum in the title race. This season it feels like they are Manchester City and Liverpool are Arsenal, feeling the breath of another on their neck, in the title race.
“Everything changes in two, three games”
Raya was asked by Pro Soccer Talk about most people handing the title to Liverpool a few months ago, as Arsenal spent most of November nine points behind them. He pointed out that things can change very quickly in the title race.
“It’s just too early to think about the end of the season and the title race and everything. It’s like you said, three weeks ago people were saying Liverpool had the title in their hands. It is just football,” Raya said. “Everything changes in two, three games. We just have to focus on ourselves, try to win every game and we will see where we are at the end of the season.”
Raya was also asked if Arsenal are intimidated by Liverpool and having to basically win every week to keep pace with them, as the Gunners go into their tricky home game with Aston Villa on Saturday knowing they have to win.
“We want to win every single game. No matter the opposition,” Raya said. “We know how good Aston Villa are and we just have to focus on ourselves and then the next one. We play Aston Villa next and we just have to recover, train and be ready for Saturday. We know how tough it’s going to be but we are going to be ready to win the game and get the three points.”