Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has laughed off the question on being the title favourites and believes his side can still improve despite opening up a five point cushion to Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
The Gunners were bullied by Everton 1-0 at Goodison Park just a month ago, but took their revenge in style at the Emirates.
Gabriel Martinelli’s brilliant brace, coupled with goals apiece for Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, helped Arsenal dismantle a struggling Everton side 4-0 to cash in on their game in hand over rivals City on Wednesday.
While the north Londoners started sloppily against Sean Dyche’s side who missed a few good opportunities to go ahead, they eventually turned on the style to win their third league game in a row – and made a statement that they are back in business after overcoming a recent slump.
The Gunners’ dominant victory puts some distance between them and second-placed Man City, who briefly overtook them at the summit following a 3-1 victory at the Emirates Stadium last month, but the momentum has now swung back in Arsenal’s favour as they move five points clear at the Premier League summit.
Arteta laughed off the question of whether his team are favourites to win the league, and challenged his Arsenal players to be relentless in their title bid. The Gunners boss said: “You know my answer there!
“What I like is that everybody has the enthusiasm to do it, and we’re not going to stop that – we have to promote that.
“But the way to promote that is by looking at this game and understanding that we have to do a lot of things better, especially in the first half.
“We can play better and make sure we prepare really well against Bournemouth, because that’s going to be a tough game.”
When asked how Arsenal would find the mental fortitude to pip City to the title, Arteta replied: “It is something that we have to train and discuss and build.
“It is not easy, but a lot of time it happens through experiences and most of the time they are experiences that you don’t want to go through, but the calendar and fixtures are going to give that.
“Sometimes you are where we are now, sometimes it is three points [difference], two points, minus two – it is going to happen and we have to live with that.”
Arsenal will next face relegation-threatened Bournemouth over the weekend, before turning their focus to a Europa League round of 16 tie against Sporting CP.
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