Mikel Arteta: Arsenal won’t be impacted by dropping to second place

Mikel Arteta has insisted Arsenal will suffer no psychological impact from dropping to second place in the Premier League and urged his team to go “all in” for a five-game shootout to win the title.

City’s 1-0 win at Burnley in midweek means they have wiped out the Gunners’ nine-point lead in less than two weeks to go top of the table for the first time since August on goals scored.

Arsenal have occupied first place for 208 days this season and have spent longer at the summit than City since Arteta took charge of the Gunners in 2019 without winning a single title. City won four Premier Leagues in the same period.

The Gunners have a chance to reestablish an advantage when hosting Newcastle at Emirates Stadium on Saturday with City engaged in the FA Cup semifinals.

And asked if there would be any effect of falling behind City by the narrowest of margins, Arteta said on Friday: “No, for me. Before the psychological effect was that we were getting chased for many months. What is better and what is worse? At the end, we know what is the best thing: win the next game. C’est fini. The psychological effect stops regardless of where you are, because you win the next game.

“[This week I’ve seen] the energy raised, the belief raised. I think the clarity of what we have to do, it cannot be better. Five games to go. Tomorrow: game one. All in. Let’s go for it.

“Five games to go, four weeks. Two big competitions to play for and everything to play for. I somebody had told us this at the beginning of the season, we would have taken it. We are so excited.”

With both teams level on points, the possibility remains that the title could be decided on goal difference or even goals scored but Arteta said Arsenal would not alter their approach.

“We don’t know about that. We are just talking about our possibilities, the first thing we have to do, and the right to win the game. And then win it.

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“Depending on how the situation is, you can think about something else. But the priority is that you have to be better in the position, and the right to win the game, and win it. That’s the first thing.”

Bukayo Saka is set to return after a five-game absence with an Achilles problem while Riccardo Calafiori is also “probably” in the squad but Jurriën Timber misses out.