Arteta Wants Arsenal To Seize Title As EPL Returns
Mikel Arteta has urged leaders Arsenal to carry on from where they left off by winning their first Premier League title since 2004 when English football’s top-flight resumes after the World Cup break.
The Gunners were in superb form, with 12 wins from 14 matches, when the league was paused in unprecedented fashion to allow for the first World Cup held in a northern hemisphere winter to take place in Qatar.
All season long, fans and pundits have been debating whether the break will be a help or a hindrance to clubs’ ambitions, with Arsenal now without Gabriel Jesus after he was sent home early from the World Cup with a knee problem sustained in Brazil’s shock defeat by Cameroon.
Arteta, however, was in buoyant mood ahead of his side’s return to Premier League action against London rivals West Ham at the Emirates on Monday.
“You know, I want the team to play a certain way, and the more consistent we are on that, the more we are going to win,” he told Sky Sports.
“There is excitement, and we should be excited and we should be embracing the opportunity that we have ahead of us.”
Arsenal are currently five points clear of reigning champions Manchester City.
Tottenham travel to Brentford with manager Antonio Conte confident Harry Kane will have put his World Cup heartache behind him.
Kane’s missed penalty late on against Spurs team-mate Hugo Lloris was a key moment in England’s 2-1 quarter-final loss to France.
“No, honestly (I am not worried) because we’re talking about a world class striker,” Conte said.
Liverpool will try to kickstart their season again away to Aston Villa on Monday.
Bottom of the table Wolves begin their quest for top-flight survival under new manager Julen Lopetegui when the former Spain and Real Madrid coach, who oversaw a midweek League Cup win over Gillingham, makes his Premier League debut away to Everton.
“For me, the only aim in front is the next match,” said Lopetegui, who replaced the sacked Bruno Lage.
Fulham’s match against Crystal Palace on Monday will be their first game since the death of club great and England 1966 World Cup-winner George Cohen at the age of 83.
Premier League chiefs announced there will be a moment’s applause before all top-flight matches between Boxing Day and December 28 in honour of Cohen, with all players and officials wearing black armbands as a mark of respect.
Fixtures (3pm GMT unless stated)
Monday: Arsenal vs West Ham (8pm GMT), Aston Villa v Liverpool (5:30pm GMT), Brentford v Tottenham (12:30pm GMT), Crystal Palace v Fulham, Everton vs Wolves, Leicester vs Newcastle, Southampton v Brighton
Tuesday: Chelsea v Bournemouth (5:30pm GMT), Manchester United versus Nottingham Forest.
Wednesday: Leeds versus Manchester City
AFP
