Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says his team in the title race after they beat Crystal Palace 5-1 at Selhurst Park, although his confidence was tempered by the likely absence of key man Bukayo Saka through injury.
After edging past Palace 3-2 in the EFL Cup in midweek, Arsenal went to south London and claimed a greater margin of victory even if the scoreline flattered the balance of play.
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The three points sent Arsenal back above Nottingham Forest into third on 33 points, three behind leaders Liverpool, who play one of their two matches in hand at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
When asked if the title race was on, a cautious Arteta said: “We are not even halfway.” But after another question on whether his team were in the title race, he said: “For us, it’s on.”
Speaking to BBC Match Of The Day, Arteta added: “[It was] a very good week. It is always weird to play the same opponent twice in three days. We started well and then conceded and the team reacted so well. To score five goals away from home in this league is never easy.”
In fact it was the sixth time that Arsenal had scored at least five goals away from home in all competitions this year, the first time a Premier League club has done so in a single calendar year.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
30 | +43 | 73 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
30 | +30 | 61 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
30 | +15 | 57 |
| 4 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
30 | +17 | 52 |
| 5 |
Man City
MCI
|
30 | +17 | 51 |
| 6 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
29 | +10 | 50 |
Two of those goals came from in-form Gabriel Jesus, who added to his hat-trick against Palace on Wednesday with a brace and could have claimed back-to-back trebles.
“You could see in the days before and after he was ready for it,” Arteta said. “I had no doubts. When a player is in that momentum he has to play.”
Arteta also saved praise for Declan Rice, who came on to score the fifth goal. “Some of the goals were really good from different faces and players sharing the goals,” Arteta said. “It was really positive. When he [Rice] came on he gave us something else in the game. He grabbed the game and gave us control.
“We are in a really good moment. We have not lost in 10 matches, we have won five out of seven and we deserved to win all of them. We are coping with a lot of things. The team is adapting and fighting every game.”
Saka injury 'a real worry'
However, one negative was the substitution of key man Saka midway through the first half with an apparent hamstring injury.
“He felt something in his hamstring, he couldn’t continue, and he’ll have to be assessed," Arteta told Arsenal's official website. "So, we’re really worried about that one."
Asked how long Saka could be absent for, Arteta said: "It’s very difficult to [say] now – they have tested him inside but very difficult to say how bad it is."
He added that before the match that Raheem Sterling, who could have been in a position to replace Saka on the wing, was also missing through injury.
"We lost Raheem yesterday," he said. "We don’t know for how long as well. So, to lose two players in 24 hours is not good.
"Unfortunately, with the amount of games that we are playing every three days with this schedule, it doesn’t surprise me but the team will react to that.