Mikel Arteta said before the game at the Etihad that Wednesday is not a Premier League decider, no matter the result, however he now has set his players a target in the five remaining games of the season.
Arsenal fell to defeat at the Etihad on Wednesday night which gave Manchester City the advantage in the Premier League title race with five games left to play.
Many pundits and football fans labelled Arsenal as ‘bottlers’ after leading the Premier League for the majority of this season and holding an eight point lead over Pep Guardiola’s side only a couple of months ago, however Gabriel Jesus disagrees which you can read more of here.
That eight point lead has now been cut to two points along with City also having two games in hand on the Gunners. Arsenal are without a win in their last four games where as Manchester City have won all of their last seven Premier League matches.
Mikel Arteta has set his players the target to be perfect in the games that remain this season, and then see where they end up.
Arsenal face Chelsea and Newcastle next before hosting Brighton at the Emirates Stadium. The Gunners will then take on Nottingham Forest before ending the season against Wolves and Mikel Arteta has set his side the target to win all five games before the end of the season.
Mikel Arteta insisted before the game that whatever the result at the Etihad the Premier League title wouldn’t be decided on Wednesday night. Arsenal will certainly be hoping that now after giving Manchester City the advantage in the title race after last night’s defeat.
“If we win tomorrow night we haven’t won the league, that’s for sure. It will shift the percentages a little bit, but with five games left after this, it will still be very tricky.
We wanted to close that gap as much as we could and we’re toe-to-toe with them. We knew we had to go to the Etihad. Is it going to define the season? The answer is no.”
Mikel has set his players the target to be perfect from now until the end of the season.
“We have to be perfect now because that’s what this last level demands – absolute perfection. If we want to have a chance of being champions, we have to win these matches. All the matches. It’s as simple as that.”
Arsenal will be keen to get back to winning ways, after four games without victory, when they host Chelsea at the Emirates Stadium next Tuesday.
According to OPTA, Arsenal now have a 9% chance of lifting the Premier League trophy this season with Manchester City in pole position to win it again.
