Mikel Arteta has emphatically declared that he will give up on Arsenal’s Premier League title ambitions “over my dead body,” even as he concedes that catching league leaders Liverpool presents a historically difficult challenge.
The Gunners, who face an in-form Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, trail Liverpool by 11 points following their disappointing 1-0 defeat to West Ham at the weekend. The gap widened further when Liverpool secured a crucial victory over Manchester City a day later.
Despite the setback, Arteta remains determined, stating in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday that he would only abandon the title chase “over my dead body.” The Spanish manager even suggested he would “go home” if he no longer believed Arsenal could catch Arne Slot’s Liverpool.
“Mathematically, it’s possible. You are there, you have to play every game,” he said.
However, Arteta acknowledged the magnitude of the challenge, as Arsenal continue their pursuit of a first Premier League title since 2004.
“If you’re going to win this Premier League with the circumstances that we have, you’re probably going to have to do something nobody else has done in the history of the Premier League,” he admitted.
He further emphasized the high standards required to remain in contention:
“In the end, you are going to have to set an amount of numbers to win in this league, and we’re going to have to hit that number if we are going to have any chance of doing that. But we are certainly going to continue to try.”
Arsenal’s title bid has been hampered by a series of injuries, particularly in attack. Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus are out for the season, while Bukayo Saka, sidelined since December, is expected to return next month. Gabriel Martinelli is also currently unavailable, and captain Martin Ødegaard previously missed 12 games with an ankle injury.
Despite these challenges, Arteta praised his squad’s resilience and ambition, admitting that the defeat to West Ham was “a very hard one to take.”
However, he remains focused on the road ahead:
“The reality is there are so many games to play, and you have to get back to it. You have to have the levels and the consistency and the hunger to go again, and that’s what we are going to do on Wednesday.”
AFP
