Mikel Arteta said that there are “a lot of reasons” why Arsenal is significantly off the pace in the Premier League title race.
The Gunners are Liverpool‘s closest challengers at the top of the table but the destination of the title has been known for some time, with Liverpool extending its lead in first place courtesy of Sunday’s 2-1 victory over West Ham.
Arsenal had the chance to close the gap to eight points at home to Brentford on Saturday but could only manage a draw, and the Reds’ advantage now stands at 13 points with just six games remaining.
Speaking after Arsenal’s draw with Brentford, Arteta said: “We still have six games to play in the Premier League, which are going to be really important. But for sure now it’s all about winning.
“Yeah, it is difficult because obviously there are a lot of reasons why we are that distance [behind Liverpool] and the amount of things that we have to deal with. And still, we are where we are. But yeah, we want to be higher, that’s for sure.”
Liverpool could wrap the title up as early as next Sunday, although that would require Arsenal to lose against the doomed Ipswich Town and Liverpool to beat the equally hopeless Leicester, which is markedly more likely. Slot said after the win over West Ham that he “doesn’t care” where Liverpool wins it, as long as the team ultimately gets over the line.
“I don’t care where we win it. We know we have to win two more games [to guarantee the title], which has been on 32 occasions difficult enough for us,” Slot said. “First win two and that is the only thing we should focus on, and each week try to improve more and more to give us a better chance to win a game next week against Leicester.
“Everybody can talk (about Leicester) but what I saw is for the first time in 11 games Leicester scored two goals and got a result (2-2 at Brighton on Saturday). They probably have a bit more confidence going into our game now.
“We have shown in the last 32 games there have only been two or three wins that were quite comfortable. The rest were very, very, very hard work. That is our only focus – winning a game of football.”
