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Mikel Arteta has said Arsenal can still win the Premier League title and praised his squad for refusing to be consoled by Champions League qualification.
Manchester City have taken charge at the top of the table, moving one point clear with a game in hand after following up last Wednesday’s 4-1 win over Arsenal by beating Fulham 2-1 on Sunday.
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However, Arsenal’s defeat at Etihad Stadium coincided with Brighton’s 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest, which guaranteed Arteta’s side will play in the Champions League for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
Before the season started, a top-four finish would have been viewed as a successful season for Arsenal, but, with the possibility of returning to top spot with victory over Chelsea at the Emirates on Tuesday, Arteta told a news conference: “I am incredibly proud and thankful to everyone who has contributed to bringing Champions League football back to this club with five or six games to go, it is something that hasn’t happened in over a decade in this football club.
“So congratulations, but also thank you for still being upset and not accepting that Champions League is not enough and we want more because this squad is going to demand to get what we want.
“We have achieved what it was difficult to achieve and we can still achieve the Premier League because there are five games to go and a lot of things are going to happen still. What we have to do is forget about what happened last week, learn from it and move on into the next game with a full tilt at home, with our people, London derby, and put things right.”
Arteta confirmed William Saliba will miss the Chelsea clash as he continues a slow recovery from the back injury which has ruled him out of the last six matches.
“He is not going to be involved tomorrow,” Arteta said. “We have to wait to the next game to see where we are are. He hasn’t improved this week at all.”