Mikel Arteta calls for his side to embrace their opportunity to clinch Premier League title

Arteta’s side will return to action on Boxing Day when they host the Hammers at Emirates.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta took his side to the top spot before the World Cup break and now, the Gunners are ready to challenge Man City for the title after 2004. It’s been 18 years since the North London club won the Premier League trophy.

The Arsenal manager called for his side to embrace their “unprecedented” opportunity to clinch their first Premier League title since 2004.

The League leaders will mark their return to action on Boxing Day when they host the Hammers at Emirates.

Arteta insisted his side’s title hopes were grounded in more than just the increasingly vocal expressions of optimism from supporters.

“It’s not just a feeling, it’s as well facts and the stats are supporting that the team is deserving to win games, which is especially my job,” he told Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.

“You know, I want the team to play a certain way, and the more consistent we are on that the more we are going to win.

“Unfortunately football you can shoot 30 times and concede one shot and you can lose 1-0, but I think in the long run you’re going to be where you deserve to be and we have the confidence that we are on the right path, but as well we have all the red lights and alarms because what is coming in the second part of the season is something unprecedented and we need to be ready for it.

“There is excitement, and we should be excited and we should be embracing the opportunity that we have ahead of us understanding that we have to do much better a lot of things that we are already doing really, really well and that’s it.”

Arteta believed an increasingly crowded fixture list will likely force him into more rotations.

He said: “That’s something that obviously we are very aware of. The type of game that we’ve had to play in Europe has allowed us to make a lot of changes and have a fresher squad for the weekend and then we’ve repeated the starting XI a lot.

“In the second half I don’t think that’s going to be the same type of numbers. We’re going to be playing every three days, the congestion and the amount of games that we have to play is going to be incredible, and we’re going to gave more resources and more players to be able to do that.”

Arteta also added on Man City manager Pep: “It’s going to take a while to break that wall, but when you have a person that is so determined, so clear, so focused and has such strong beliefs you just die for him.”

“That’s the secret of it. It’s great to get some things from other managers or even to copy, but you cannot copy and paste. It doesn’t work, unfortunately.”

See More: