Mikel Arteta lays down title conditions to Arsenal stars as Man City battle heats up

Mikel Arteta said he has no problem with his players talking publicly about Arsenal seeking to end their 21-year wait for the Premier League title this season.

Bukayo Saka said following Tuesday’s 2-0 Champions League win against Paris St Germain that he believes this is the season the team will throw off the frustration of twice finishing runners-up to Manchester City to become champions for the first time since 2004.

The Gunners came within seconds of defeating City at the Etihad in September, conceding a stoppage-time equaliser in a 2-2 draw, but nevertheless are unbeaten after six matches and sit third, level on points with the second-placed champions.

“They (the players) are free to express their feelings,” said Arteta. “Belief is the first thing that you need to achieve any dream or whatever you want to achieve in life.”

Asked whether the title is discussed internally within the squad, he said: “We talk about game by game, the training sessions, what we demand of ourselves, evaluate what we do every single day, how we can continue to improve and be the team we want to be in a consistent way. That’s it.”

“The rest will take care of itself. If we are good enough to do that at the end of the season, we will have chances to achieve (the title).”

Arsenal will again be without injured captain Martin Odegaard for Saturday’s game against Southampton at the Emirates with no firm date yet given for his return.

In his absence, Arteta has rearranged the attacking shape of his team with Kai Havertz deployed as a striker in partnership with Leandro Trossard.

Havertz has scored five goals in nine games in all competitions this term, a far cry from this time last season when he was yet to open his account following a £65million move from Chelsea.

Asked what has made the difference to a player that has grown increasingly central to Arsenal’s title hopes, Arteta said: “Love. He’s a player that needs a lot of love.”

“He needs to feel protected, he needs to feel chemistry around him. In football and in life he gives so much to everybody, so he needs that connection with the people.”

“He got that from ourselves, and the moment he started to grow with our supporters I think that gave him a different dimension, different confidence.”

Arsenal face a side who played a significant role in the collapse of the Gunners’ title challenge two seasons ago, with Saints earning a 3-3 draw on what was their most recent visit to the Emirates in April 2023, days after West Ham had fought from 2-0 down to steal a draw against the then league leaders.

Last season was a similar story with Arsenal losing twice in three days over Christmas against Fulham and the Hammers, yet taking a combined 11 points from games against City, Liverpool and Tottenham.

Asked whether he found the trend frustrating, Arteta said: “This is what my dad says. But then we would win every game and we would be champions.”

“We have an opposition and the level of this league is so high. We’re going to try our best for sure tomorrow to compete in a way that we want and try to win it.”