MIKEL Arteta insists Arsenal’s trip to face Manchester City on Wednesday is not a Premier League title decider – but concedes his side now have to be perfect in order to stay top of the table.
City and Arsenal go into their potential Premier League title decider both on long unbeaten runs but with momentum perhaps swinging towards City.
Arteta’s side are on a run of three dramatic draws in succession, and with questions being asked over their nerves in the run-in.
They led 2-0 early on against both Liverpool and West Ham, only to be pegged back and draw 2-2. Against Southampton, by contrast, they trailed 2-0 and 3-1 before scoring twice in the last three minutes to salvage a 3-3 draw.
They had won seven straight league games previously, including three in a row by three-goal margins, giving them 24 points from a possible 30.
That run was interrupted by a Europa League exit on penalties to Sporting Lisbon, drawing both legs of the last-16 tie, but they remain unbeaten in 10 league games – one more than City, and scoring three goals or more in seven of those games – and 12 in all competitions.
Arteta said: “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.
“Mentality plays a huge part. Obviously, the belief is there. When I look at how they train and the way they’ve reacted, the mood in the dressing room and the way they defend each other, we really want it.
“We’re going to show that again tomorrow night. But we have to deliver in the right moment with the right performance and it has to be perfection because that’s what this last level demands – absolute perfection.”
City are unbeaten in 16 games in all competitions since losing to Tottenham in early February, with 13 wins and three draws in that run.
The only team to take a point off them in the league in that time are, remarkably, relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest, who claimed a 1-1 draw in February courtesy of Chris Wood’s late equaliser. City have won their other eight league games in that run, earning 25 points out of the last 27 available.
Such form in the run-in is nothing new to City, and the similarity to last season is looking uncanny. Then they lost to Spurs in February and were unbeaten thereafter, with nine wins and three draws seeing them to the title a point ahead of Liverpool.
“They’ve been in this incredible form but if you look at the table, it shows we have been too,” added Arteta.
“It’s going to be a tough night and challenge, but the opportunity is an incredible one for us. We have to go to Man City and we have to beat them. If we want to be champions, we have to win these matches. It’s as simple as that.”
Arteta has confirmed that defender William Saliba will not be fit to face City due to his ongoing back problems which is likely to also rule him out of facing Chelsea at the weekend.
Midfielder Granit Xhaka, who missed the draw with Southampton, is also a doubt but was set to train on Tuesday while Arteta confirmed there were no other injury concerns.
During the 2018/19 season, City won their final 14 games to again beat Liverpool by a point – the Reds themselves won their last nine and were unbeaten in 17 after their ultimately crucial January defeat to City.
The 2017/18 title was won in a procession by Pep Guardiola’s men but City still won five and drew one of their last six games to finish with a record 100 points.
Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final win keeps them in the hunt for a treble, with a derby final against Manchester United to come and a Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid.
Erling Haaland’s run of 15 goals in seven games ended against Sheffield United but he has seven goals and two assists in City’s nine-game unbeaten league run, including doubles against Southampton and Leicester.
“We are working on City’s threats and weaknesses,” said Arteta.
“We know what they are. With them it starts with the goalkeeper. We just have to focus on us. We know what they can do. They can do so many things that you have to be adaptable.”
