Mikel Arteta reckons that there are more than two teams involved in the Premier League title race, and has challenged his players to ‘play better’.
Arsenal sit at the top of the Premier League, two points clear of Manchester City having played a game fewer than the reigning champions, as the Gunners look to claim their first league title since 2003/4.
Arsenal have however suffered a mini-blip in recent weeks, winning just once in their last five, and even that victory over Aston Villa required two stoppage-time goals to claim all three points.
Manchester United are three points further back from City, and are on a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions, while Spurs sit in fourth, 12 points off the league leaders.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Premier League clash against Leicester, the Arsenal boss reckons that it is more than a two-horse race, and said that the challenge for all of the sides is to get their players playing better.
“I think there is more [than two] teams involved and every day is going to be a race – a race to convince those players how to train better, to play better,” he said at his pre-match press conference.
“Against Leicester we are doing to have to be really good to beat them, especially with the way they have been playing the last few weeks.
“We have to play really well to compete and try to win that game [at Leicester], which is going to be difficult. It is a challenge every week in this league.”