Arsenal players still have fire in their bellies, says Mikel Arteta
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Arsenal is in second place on 75 points, one behind leaders Manchester City who have a game in hand.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – Arsenal are still up for the challenge despite last week’s devastating 4-1 defeat by Manchester City,
The Gunners have relinquished their lead at the top of the standings following a run of four games without victory, including the loss to City and draws with Liverpool, West Ham United and Southampton.
Arteta’s men are in second place on 75 points, one behind leaders City who have a game in hand. They can briefly return to the top of the league with victory over Chelsea, who are 12th in the table.
Asked about the title race on Monday, the Arsenal boss said: “You have to recognise that there is still work to do. We have to be humble, recognise what our weaknesses are and work to be better.
“But we also have many strengths and there are a lot of things we have done well over the last 10 months I think...
“Now it (the title race) is not in our hands any more. What is in our hands is to try to win the games we have left and the rest is down to City.
“I have not had to pick up the mood of the players. They keep the fire in the belly for tomorrow. It is very difficult to predict what they (Chelsea) are going to do but we have to prepare well to win the game.”
On what he expects from Chelsea, the Spaniard added: “They are going to try to come to the Emirates to beat us. They have a great manager (in Frank Lampard).
“But we are Arsenal football club, we have to be here to win every single trophy. The demands have to be there.”
Arteta also said defender William Saliba, who has impressed this season but has not played in over a month due to a back injury, will not be available for selection.
“He has not improved this week at all,” he said.
Arsenal have conceded an alarming 11 goals in this poor run of four games, but they have also been lethal when it comes to scoring. Their haul of 78 goals so far is second only to City’s 84.
Only Newcastle United have stopped them from scoring at home in the league this season, which does not bode well for Chelsea.
Blues interim boss Lampard’s losing streak stretched to five games last week when Brentford beat them 2-0 at Stamford Bridge.
Crystal Palace, who have been revived under Roy Hodgson, then leapfrogged Chelsea over the weekend with a 4-3 win over West Ham, meaning that Lampard’s men are in 12th and worryingly, just 10 points clear of the relegation zone.
They are also winless in eight matches in all competitions and have scored just one goal since Lampard was appointed.
When asked if he still has the appetite to come to work in such a difficult time, the Chelsea boss said: “Absolutely. I came in with my eyes wide open. We’re trying to bring back the good feeling.
“I’m very proud to manage the club and I enjoy doing my job. Reality of football is that your career won’t be full of successes. You can’t always control results but you can control the work.
“They’re low on confidence and low on performance. I’ve been here in periods when confidence is low. In history we managed to get it back through hard work.
“You shouldn’t be talking about team confidence but it’s clearly an issue at the moment.”
Lampard also confirmed that the injured Mason Mount, Reece James, Marc Cucurella and Kalidou Koulibaly all remain out of contention for the match. REUTERS
