Arsenal news: Gunners receive title race backing as former star makes return

Arsenal are looking to close the gap on Premier League leaders Arsenal when they travel to Leicester on Saturday, with the Gunners currently in Dubai for a training camp

Arsenal are building up to their Premier League return with a trip to Leicester on Saturday.

The Gunners will have the chance to close the gap on leaders Liverpool, who take on Everton on Wednesday before hosting Wolves on Sunday. Despite the Reds’ healthy lead in the title race, Arsenal have been told to keep pushing.

Former star Bacary Sagna believes Mikel Arteta’s men can successfully close the gap on Arne Slot’s pacesetters. Arteta has taken his side to Dubai for a warm weather training camp over the past few days.

Having welcomed Manuel Almunia to the group last week, Mohamed Elneny paid a visit to the camp on Monday. Here, Mirror Football rounds up all the latest Arsenal news.

Gunners backed in title charge

Bacary Sagna has backed Arsenal to overhaul Liverpool in the title race, despite the large points gap between the two sides. The Frenchman has urged his former side to stay patient and keep wracking up wins.

“As long as Arsenal keep in touch with Liverpool, then they have a great chance of winning the Premier League title this season. We know that they have to play each other before the season is over,” Sagna said.

“Liverpool will drop points. They have difficult games left to play, and I don’t think they will win them all. The most important thing for Arsenal it not to lose touch with Liverpool now. If Liverpool lose one game and Arsenal stay behind them, then all of a sudden, the pressure really starts to ramp up on them.”

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Old face returns

Mohamed Elneny returned to Arsenal on Monday as the Egyptian visited their Dubai training camp. The midfielder spent eight years with the Gunners and was seen happily greeting Oleksandr Zinchenko among others, while Bukayo Saka continued his individual work as he recovers from injury.

An Arsenal statement read: “The squad have been continuing the hard work over the weekend on the NAS Sports Complex training pitches in Dubai.

“Academy youngsters like Max Dowman have been learning more about the first-team environment, taking all the advice on board from Ethan Nwaneri and Myles Lewis-Skelly. Mohamed Elneny stopped by to catch up with his old teammates too.”

Arteta blow

Mikel Arteta has been warned that Arsenal’s hopes of winning the title will be over if Liverpool beat Everton on Wednesday. The Merseyside Derby represents the Reds’ game in hand over their title rivals.

The Toffees have improved under returning manager David Moyes. But Arne Slot’s side have lost just one top-flight game all season and Paul Merson believes another win for the Reds will ensure they win the title.

He told Metro Sport: “They’ve [Arsenal] got two [trophies left to win], one they could be out of by Wednesday night in my opinion. If Liverpool win at Everton, that’ll be nine points clear with 15-odd games left. They’d have to lose four of them, which I think would be impossible. To me, it comes down to Wednesday.”

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