Arteta: 'The championship can be decided with a little luck'

"You need luck at the right time," Arteta said on April 14 at a press conference before the match against West Ham in the 31st round of the Premier League. "It's part of football. Sometimes it's all about a few inches and that short distance is in your favor."

Arsenal currently lead the table with 73 points - three more points, but also one more game than Man City. But Arteta's teachers and students only had to focus on the Premier League, while Man City had to divide their energy for three arenas at the same time when they reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup.

However, Arteta refused to see this as Arsenal's advantage, emphasizing just wanting the players to be as healthy as possible and ready to play. He was also not surprised when many experts and statistics firm Opta rated Man City as having a higher chance of winning because this was predicted before the season.

The Spanish coach admits goal difference can be an important factor in the championship race, with Arsenal having a 43 difference compared to Man City's 48, before round 31. In the English Premier League, if the two clubs are equal on points. , the ranking will be decided by goal difference. "We thought about all the possibilities," Arteta said. "Obviously Arsenal want to win games first, then we want to score as many goals as possible."

The 41-year-old coach is pleased that Arsenal are leading because they have set a goal of winning the title before the season. "There are so many things that happen every day, every month at a football club," Arteta said. "My goal in returning to Arsenal is to get the club back to where it was, fighting for every title at the highest level. That's what we're trying to do."

During his time at the top, Arteta and Rangers won the Scottish Premiership in the 2002-2003 season. At that time, the two teams had 97 points together and the championship was only decided by a goal, when Rangers had a difference of 73 compared to 72 of the opponent. When asked about the intense championship racing experience up to the final laps 20 years ago, Arteta replied: "The important thing is what you do every day, give your best and never give up because there's always another chance. Especially in football, you have to be ready when the opportunity comes."

In the match in March 2021, Jesse Lingard, Jarrod Bowen and Tomas Soucek respectively scored to help West Ham lead 3-0 after 32 minutes. But own goals from Soucek, Craig Dawson and Alexandre Lacazette's goal helped Arsenal upstream to equalize 3-3. Arteta said the "Gunners" learned a lot from this draw and the current team is more stable in each ball and approach to the game. He said: "That's why Arsenal are where they are now, where we've been consistent and have been performing at our best over the past several months, which we haven't been able to do before. We are happy with where we are now. , and now it's time to get the job done".

Arteta confirmed Eddie Nketiah is in the best shape, ready to return, but William Saliba only returned after "a few weeks". In addition, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny are both out for the rest of the season due to a knee injury.