Mikel Arteta says ‘gap is still big’ between Arsenal and title contenders

Mikel Arteta believes there is still a significant gap between Arsenal and the Premier League’s title contenders but says the club are finally shaking off years of “feeling sorry for ourselves”.

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Arsenal host Liverpool on Wednesday night in a match of critical importance to the battles for first and fourth. Should Arteta’s side earn a sixth straight win it would put them four points clear of Manchester United, who are fifth, with two games in hand; they would also move to within five points of Chelsea having played a game fewer, but Arteta cautioned that they remain well short of the standards he wants to set.

“Still far,” he said. “We have to make things quicker, sharper. We can be more adaptable, we can be much more unpredictable, we can have much more flexibility and we can be much more consistent throughout games to maintain that level.

“I think we are much closer than we were, and probably the closest we have been in terms of what we are looking for. But I focus on that gap, and that gap is still big.”

It is a mark of Arsenal’s rapid strides, though, that there would not be too many eyebrows raised if they overcame Liverpool. They outplayed Manchester City for long periods on New Year’s Day and the buzz around the Emirates, an intimidating venue for visiting sides this season and one where Arsenal have dropped only 10 points, is palpable. Arteta explained that they have had to change the downtrodden demeanour that had dogged the club in recent years, and stop repeating old mistakes.

“I hate that feeling, of feeling sorry for ourselves,” he said. “Of saying: ‘Oh, this is happening to us again.’ A lot of things happen, and when they