Mikel Arteta reveals the one thing his Arsenal players are currently enjoying in their Premier League title race

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal are set to face Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium knowing that a win is imperative to keep pressurising Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table.

Mikel Arteta’s side showed incredible character to come from behind and beat rivals Tottenham Hotspur in the North London Derby and the players once again have to lift themselves for another huge clash.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	20	14	5	1	48	20	28	47
2	ArsenalArsenal	21	12	7	2	41	19	22	43

The feeling is that the next round of fixtures could be pivotal in the race for the Premier League title, with Liverpool travelling to Brentford before the Gunners host former manager Unai Emery.

Arteta does not have a great record against Emery but will be confident his players can put that to one side and claim the three points. Being involved in a title race is something that Arteta’s players are clearly thriving from.

READ MORE: Arsenal vs Aston Villa – TV channel, live stream details, team and injury news plus more

Mikel Arteta says Arsenal players are ‘thriving’ under the pressure of chasing Liverpool

Speaking at his pre-match press conference ahead of Arsenal v Aston Villa, Arteta spoke about how his young squad are thriving under the pressure of being in yet another title race.

Arteta stated: “If you want to be fighting for the top trophies with the top teams for 11 months like we’ve been doing the last two-and-a-half years now, you have to enjoy those kind of moments, circumstances or challenges and the pressure that comes with it because it’s the beauty of it. We are playing to win and that’s exactly where we want to be.”

When asked whether he wanted the players to be feeling pressure, the boss gave an answer that all Arsenal fans would want to hear.

He stated: “I think the pressure comes from within, nobody can put pressure on you. I think it’s the wrong way and if that’s the case, it’s because you’re probably not doing or preparing the right way. I think you have to thrive to be the best that you possibly can and there’s no more pressure than that in my opinion”

Arsenal have proven they can handle ‘pressure’ before

Despite coming up just short and losing out to Manchester City by two points in last season’s Premier League table, Arsenal went on an incredible run in the second half of the season.

The Gunners won 16 out of their last 18 league games, amassing a total of 49 points that dragged themselves into real contention for the honours.

Their only defeat came at the hands of their next opponents Aston Villa, as Ollie Watkins struck a late blow to ultimately cost Arteta’s men the trophy.

If the Gunners can manage to put together a similar winning run this season, they would end the season on exactly the same number of points as last campaign – 89.

Whether that will be enough to pip Liverpool, only time will tell but Arteta knows this Arsenal squad are capable and can handle any pressures that are thrown at them.