Mikel Arteta remains resolute in Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge, declaring he would give up the fight “over my dead body” despite acknowledging the daunting task of catching Liverpool.
The Gunners, who face an in-form Nottingham Forest on Wednesday, trail the league leaders by 11 points following a costly 1-0 defeat to West Ham last weekend. Liverpool extended their advantage a day later with a crucial victory over Manchester City.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Arteta dismissed any notion of surrender. “Mathematically, it’s possible. You are there, you have to play every game,” he asserted. The Spaniard even suggested he would “go home” if he no longer believed his team could close the gap on Arne Slot’s Liverpool.
Arteta acknowledged the scale of the challenge, emphasizing the historic nature of what Arsenal must achieve to claim their first league title since 2004. “If you’re going to win this Premier League under these circumstances, you’re probably going to have to do something nobody else has done in its history,” he said.
Despite setbacks, including a series of injuries to key players such as Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Bukayo Saka, and Gabriel Martinelli, Arteta remains determined. He praised his squad’s resilience, describing the loss to West Ham as “very hard to take” but insisted Arsenal would push forward.
“The reality is there are so many games to play. You have to get back to it,” he said. “You have to have the levels, the consistency, and the hunger to go again, and that’s what we are going to do on Wednesday.”
With a game in hand over Liverpool, Arsenal still has a fighting chance—but their margin for error is rapidly shrinking.
