Mikel Arteta has urged his Arsenal players to adopt a “hammer” mentality as they look to smash Liverpool’s lead in the Premier League title race.
Speaking ahead of Arsenal’s crucial New Year’s Day clash with Brentford, Arteta emphasised the importance of maintaining pressure on Arne Slots side.
The Gunners currently sit nine points behind the league leaders after 18 games.
Arsenal’s rivals, led by Slot, have been impressively consistent this season, suffering just one defeat – against second-placed Nottingham Forest.
Mikel Arteta, however, remains confident Liverpool will falter.
He said: “We have to continue to be like a hammer, be there every day, every day, and if someone wins all the matches then congratulate them and then go to the next season.
“But if they don’t – which in history it hasn’t happened – then we will be there.
“It doesn’t depend on us.
“But we will have full focus on Brentford because our minds have to be on what we have to do.
“We have to recover because not just now but also in the next few weeks, we have so many games, so many competitions and we need to be right up there.”
Liverpool’s impressive form has firmly established them as title favourites.
However, being top of the table on Christmas Day is far from a guarantee of lifting the trophy in May.
In the 31 seasons of the Premier League, only 16 teams leading at Christmas have gone on to claim the title.
As Mikel Arteta rightly pointed out, Arne Slot and his side still have plenty of work to do.
Despite the historical precedent, Liverpool’s position atop the league does not appear to be adding any extra pressure on their manager.
“You’re sitting in front of the Liverpool manager, so there is always pressure at this club,” Slot said earlier this month.
“If we are one, two, three, four or five in the table, if you work at a big club like Liverpool, there is always pressure. It’s not so strange for a club like us to be top of the league but we know how many good teams there are in this league and they are able to win almost every game as well.
“So there’s no extra pressure, there is always pressure if you work at a club like Liverpool.”
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