05 December 2023 , 06:56
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Mikel Arteta insists he takes no encouragement seeing Manchester City drop points, despite allowing Arsenal to open up a narrow lead at the top.
The Gunners currently enjoy a two point lead at the summit of the Premier League as they look to go one better than last season's second place finish. City have dropped six points in their last three games as a result of draws against Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham, leaving them three points off Arsenal and sit third.
Dropping so many points in a short period of time is a rarity for Pep Guardiola's side and Arsenal have been able to seize on that opportunity, beating the likes of Wolves and Brentford. But Arteta is focused on his team - not their rivals.
“Encouragement? No,” he said. “Encouragement comes from watching my team play and watching how they behave every single day, how hungry and willing they are to play every single game, the way they approach every single training session. That’s what gives me encouragement. What the others do is something we cannot control.
“I don’t think about [opening up a five-point gap], I think about how we’re going to play better tomorrow and be more consistent and more difficult to beat. The things that have to tweak and how we can use our players in the best possible way to win. It’s still a huge marathon ahead of us.”
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City have dropped 12 points after 14 games thus far as they eye an unprecedented fourth straight league title. Last term after the same amount of games they had let 10 points slip. Arsenal were chased down last term and Guardiola's side are more than capable of putting together a string of wins to alter their season.
Man City have drawn their last three on the bounceArteta is aiming to end a two decade wait for a league title in north London with their famous Invincibles the last team to lift the trophy. Arsenal have also dropped more points this term than at the same point last season with Liverpool also among the title protagonists.
The Gunners will head to Anfield later in December whilst they've already beaten City - something they'd failed to do in the league for several seasons. Gabriel Martinelli scored a deflected winner when the two sides met back in early October.