Mikel Arteta believes Arsenal must earn the right to be crowned Premier League champions rather than rely on any punishment imposed on title rivals Manchester City.
Arsenal leads City by five points going into this weekend’s games, with the top two meeting at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday night. The game will be played with a cloud over the visitors, who have been charged of more than 100 alleged rule violations.
City have denied wrongdoing, but if an independent committee determines that they violated spending regulations, they may be subject to harsh penalties.
Expulsion from the league, huge financial penalties, and point deductions are all possibilities, but Arteta wants his team to compete for the title on the pitch.
What Did Mikel Arteta Say?
“We have to look after our own garden,” he replied when asked if Arsenal have to be prepared to take advantage of any distraction caused at City.
🗣 “We have to earn the right to win it, that’s for sure.”
Mikel Arteta is not putting any focus on a potential “points deduction” to their rivals Man City pic.twitter.com/fWIw4jZh7A
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) February 10, 2023
“Let’s focus on what we have to do and win enough football matches for that to happen. We have to earn the right to win it, that’s for sure.”
Ahead of facing City, Arsenal host Brentford on Saturday on the back of losing their past two games.
A narrow FA Cup exit against City was followed by a shock 1-0 loss at Everton – just a second league defeat of the campaign – with Arteta ready to use the run as a chance to reboot Arsenal’s campaign.
“It’s not about a comfort zone. In football you lose matches,” he said of his players’ reaction to recent setbacks.
“They are very different matches we lost against City and against Everton, but losing brings a lot of opportunities to look at other things and see the reaction of the team. The reaction of the team has been superb this week.
Trending Stories: Jordi Alba Willing To Reduce Salary To Stay At Barcelona
“Tomorrow we’re going to put a great performance in, in front of our crowd to try to win the game.
“It (the reaction to Everton) has been really positive. Straight away we sat together, what happened and the opponent played their part.
“You have to congratulate the opponent on the day. It’s true that there are things we didn’t do like in other games and that’s why you lose football matches.
“But it’s always an opportunity to bounce back and show how much we want what we’re fighting for and do it tomorrow.”
COMMENTS