Journalist David Ornstein has now revealed that Mikel Arteta and his Arsenal staff harbour a surprising concern about this season’s Premier League title race.
Arsenal are currently engaged in a tight Premier League title race with Manchester City and Liverpool.
The Gunners were able to build upon their 0–0 draw with Manchester City on Sunday, with a 2-0 victory over Luton Town at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening. However, there will be sterner tests to come for the North London club and their margin for error is all but non-existent.
Iconic former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher has already revealed how many points he believes Arsenal will need in order to be crowned champions this season. If his prediction is correct, then Mikel Arteta’s side will need to be near perfect for the rest of the campaign.
The data suggests that Arsenal face a tougher run-in in this Premier League season than either Manchester City or Liverpool. However, it may not be the tricky looking away trips to face Manchester United at Old Trafford or their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur that Arteta is most worried about.
David Ornstein reveals Mikel Arteta fear for Arsenal title bid
According to David Ornstein, speaking on Sky Sports’ Back Pages podcast, the Gunners fear that they are more likely to slip up against those sides they are expected to beat.
The reporter said: “When I speak to people at Arsenal, they aren’t so concerned about the biggest matches these days, in terms of the Tottenhams, Chelseas, and Manchester Uniteds.
“That’s evidenced by the fact that they’ve picked up four points against Manchester City this season and four points against Liverpool. That’s more than either of those teams have in the sort of round-robin against those same opponents.
“It’s more the smaller matches, the likes of Luton Town on Wednesday, and Brentford previously before the international break. Sheffield United too. Yet, Arsenal are coming through all of them. Sheffield United was rampant, Brentford less so, and Wednesday was sort of in-between.”
How Mikel Arteta will address Arsenal complacency concern
Really, Arteta and his coaching staff fear that one of these ‘smaller’ sides could prove to be something of a banana skin for the team to slip up against. As such, the Spanish coach will be doing all he can behind-the-scenes at the Emirates Stadium to ensure that no sense of complacency is allowed to set in amongst his first-team squad.
In the meantime, Arsenal can take comfort from the excellent form they have already shown this season against the rest of the ‘big six’ clubs.
Arsenal will need to be at their best when they travel to face Brighton hand Hove Albion on Saturday. The Seagulls have been in indifferent form of late, but still have more than enough quality to pose a real threat. It will be fascinating to see what kind of starting XI Arteta names for this match, given he made so many changes to his team for the visit of Luton Town.
Emile Smith Rowe may well have played his way into a bigger role in Arteta’s plans going forward after his eye-catching display against the Hatters.