Mikel Arteta hints that Arsenal may have unexpected advantage over Liverpool in title race

Arsenal can close gap on Premier League leaders Liverpool to five points with a win at home to West Ham today with Mikel Arteta’s team in a mentally strong place

Mikel Arteta can see there is some benefit to being the hunter rather than the hunted in the Premier League title race – even if he would much prefer to have points on the board.

A win over West Ham at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon would see Arsenal close the gap on pacesetters Liverpool to five points before they face Manchester City on Sunday.

And while Arteta would rather Arsenal’s destiny be solely in their control, he admits that the momentum could help his team after two seasons where they were chased down successfully in nail-biting finishes by Pep Guardiola’s City.

“I prefer to depend on me, because when you depend on somebody else there are too many factors,” Arteta said.

“But it feels different, it feels like we can generate the right momentum and a team with these performances is able to convince itself that we can do it. Suddenly we feel really, really strong. And that’s probably mentally a point that it can go for us.”

Meanwhile, Arteta has told Raheem Sterling the time has come to make a big impact on Arsenal’s season.

Struggling Sterling, on loan for the season from Chelsea, is expected to make just a fifth league start against West Ham for an Arsenal side without four key attackers because of injuries.

His only goal has come in the EFL Cup and the England international has provided just a single assist.

And after Mikel Merino replaced Sterling before scoring twice at Leicester last week, there is fresh pressure on the forward because he could soon be snubbed in favour of a midfielder.

But Arteta, who reckons there is no stock in the theory that being a teenage star means he has run out of steam aged 30, is urging Sterling to step up in his team’s time of need as they look to overhaul Liverpool’s eight-point lead.

Asked if he thinks Sterling can still contribute, Arteta said: “Yeah and he has to because we really need him. Raheem is so experienced, and like many other players, we know that what you did yesterday is not (relevant). That could be relevant to the next game, to the next action. He’s fully focused, he’s trained really well this week, and ready to go again.”

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