Mikel Arteta is expecting the race for Champions League qualification to go ‘right until the end’ of the season and has anticipated a ‘rollercoaster’ finish to the campaign.
Arsenal host Wolves in a crucial Premier League encounter on Thursday evening, with both sides among a congested pack of teams pursuing a top four finish and Champions League football.
Arteta’s side are sixth in the division at present, four points outside the top four but with three games in hand on both Manchester United and West Ham above them.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Arteta admits he is expecting the race for the top four to go down to the wire and anticipates twists and turns as the Gunners look to return to Europe’s elite next season.
“I think it will be a bit of a rollercoaster,” he said. “There will be moments when a team opens up a bit of a gap, then it catches up. You see the fixtures we all have to play and they are extremely tricky. We will see.
“There is going that pressure because mathematically, it is possible but our focus has to be today. Train well today, prepare well today, be mentally ready, physically ready, tactically ready tomorrow to play a really difficult match and show it on the pitch. That should be the only aim.
“I think [the players] know. They know what every game means for us, we know where we are and that race is going to right until the end.
“There are a lot of clubs involved, you see very different results that you don’t expect and we play at home [against Wolves on Thursday night], the importance of getting the points when we play at home is going to be crucial to get to the destination.”
