Oleksandr Zinchenko says Arsenal can ‘compete with the best teams in the world’

Oleksandr Zinchenko believes Arsenal have proved they can compete with the world’s best teams as the club’s pursuit of domestic and European glory intensifies.

Mikel Arteta’s men kept up the pace with Premier League title rivals Liverpool and Manchester City thanks to Wednesday evening’s comfortable 2-0 victory over lowly Luton.

The Gunners are also chasing Champions League success and next week begin a two-legged quarter-final against Bayern Munich.

With the season at a pivotal stage, left-back Zinchenko feels taking four top-flight points from both Jurgen Klopp’s Reds and Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions this term gives his side confidence.

“Yeah, I won’t lie to you, 100 per cent because it shows that we are ready to compete with the best teams in the world,” he said.

“It’s not easy to play against City away and also Liverpool away and the other teams as well – I don’t want to be disrespectful to the others. It shows that Arsenal are ready to fight for it.

“We know that we are fighting for something big this season.”

Martin Odegaard’s 10th strike of the season and an own goal from Daiki Hashioka were enough to dispatch the relegation-threatened Hatters and build on an Easter Sunday stalemate at City.

Arsenal led the title race for much of last season before fading away in the final weeks.

Ukraine international Zinchenko, a four-time Premier League champion during his City days, feels the Gunners must harness that disappointment but concedes only time will tell if they can avoid a similar fate.

“I can’t tell you this right now because there is still a lot of games to play,” the 27-year-old replied when asked if Arsenal have the squad to fight for both the Champions League and Premier League titles.

“We already have