‘Arsenal Will Be No Where Near The Title’

Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta has admitted that the Gunners will be “nowhere near” winning the Premier League title if they play like they did in their defeat to Fulham.

On New Year’s Eve, Arsenal suffered their second defeat in three days at Craven Cottage despite leading 2-1 at the break thanks to a goal by Bukayo Saka). Given the lacklustre performance by the Gunners, manager Arteta was compelled to acknowledge the competition for the Premier League crown.

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Following the game, Arteta was candid in an interview with BBC Sport, saying: “Really tough day. A sad day. Three days ago [2-0 defeat by West Ham] we played a game we lost that we completely meant to win it, today was our worst game of the season. The pace, the purpose we have in attack, defensively we were second best, we could not dominate and had issues because of that.

“We didn’t do enough with that [possession] – not enough purpose speed or threat. We were sloppy with the ball. It wasn’t good enough. We didn’t deserve to win. When you have opportunities to go top of the league on 31 December and now end up with a really bad feeling – that is football. The lines are really thin.

“If we play like we played in the other 19 games we will be up there [in the league at the end of the season]. If we play like today we will be nowhere near. Today was a really difficult day to swallow.”

Arsenal has dropped from first place in the standings to fourth, just one point ahead of North London rivals Tottenham, as a result of back-to-back losses since Christmas Day. Arteta’s side will fall five points behind league leaders Liverpool if Jurgen Klopp’s side beat Newcastle on New Year’s Day.

Despite leading the Premier League table on Christmas Day for the past six seasons, Arsenal has not gone on to win the title.

Arsenal will now have a week off before facing Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in a crucial FA Cup third-round match. The Gunners’ next league match is against Crystal Palace on January 20.