Bukayo Saka vows ‘this is the year’ for Arsenal after PSG win

Bukayo Saka believes this is the year Arsenal finally beat Manchester City to the Premier League title. The Gunners’ confidence levels rose again on Tuesday night after an impressive win over Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League.

Goals from Kai Havertz and Saka put Arsenal two in front before half-time and PSG were unable to claw their way back into the contest, despite seeing more of the ball.

Manager Mikel Arteta will switch focus back to the Prem ahead of Southampton’s visit to the Emirates Stadium this weekend. And his players will be motivated by revenge after narrowly missing out on the title to City in each of the past two seasons.

After the 2-0 win over PSG, Arsenal legend Thierry Henry put Saka on the spot by asking whether this is the year Arsenal haul their title challenge over the line.

With a puff of the cheeks, the 23-year-old told CBS Sports: “I don’t want to put too much pressure on us but I do think this is the year. We’ve been close the last two years and we’re getting closer, but yeah, this will hopefully be the year.”

The most recent of Arsenal’s 13 league titles came in 2004, and so far Arteta only has an FA Cup win to show for the superb team he has built in his five years at the club.

Six games into 2023/24, Arsenal are yet to be defeated and their haul of 14 points from a possible 18 leaves them in third place, level with City but one point behind table-toppers Liverpool.

Asked for his response to Saka’s title claim, Arteta said after the PSG win: “The players feel that we are heading in the right direction, and they believe in what we do. It’s a great sign, it’s a night to be really happy because we played one of the best teams in the world. To be able to perform and win in the way we did, it’s a really good sign for the team.”

The Gunners will fancy their chances of putting pressure on City and Liverpool this weekend with a victory over the struggling Saints.

Russell Martin’s newly-promoted side are yet to win a league match this season and they have conceded at a rate of two goals per game up to this point.