Leeds United will hope to hinder Arsenal’s bid for the Premier League title when the two sides meet at Elland Road on Saturday.
Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has questioned the Gunners ‘mental strength’ as Mikel Arteta prepares the Premier League leaders for this weekend’s visit to Leeds United.
After starting the second half of their title challenge with a 3-2 win at Bournemouth on the first weekend of January, Arteta’s side have collected just two points from a visit to Nottingham Forest and home clashes with Liverpool and Manchester United. The latter of those losses came on Sunday afternoon as the Gunners’ lead at the top of the table was left at four points when the weekend fixtures came to a close.
Vieira, who was on hand to witness the defeat as part of Sky Sports team of pundits, suggested ‘there are still some questions about the mental strength’ of Arteta’s men as they look to secure a first league title since 2004 and stated there is a need for ‘a leader to lift the spirit of the team’.
Arteta responded to those suggestions in the aftermath of their weekend defeat as he assessed the current state of the title race and his side’s attempts to bring a positive end to their attempts to get their hands of the Premier League champions trophy.
He said: "We accept every opinion when it comes and where it's coming from, and they will have the right reasons to say. At the end we have to show the mental strength that we have on the pitch when it comes to matchday and we were absolutely brilliant in Milan and today we weren't that good - I don't know if it was mental because of how much they play, but because we were poor, especially technically in certain aspects of the game against a team that when you make those mistakes, they can punish you big time and that was the difference."
Convinced
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4/1 | Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images
Saturday’s visit to Leeds will provide another stern examination of Arsenal’s title credentials as Daniel Farke’s side continue to show they are one of the toughest sides to beat in the Premier League. Monday night’s hard-earned 1-1 draw at Everton means the Whites have lost just one of their last 11 games in all competitions and have also lost just two of their 11 games at Elland Road this season.
Despite the obvious threat that his side will face on Saturday and their recent wobbles, Arteta has insisted he remained ‘very convinced’ his players have the hunger and desire to become champions and get back to winning ways.
When asked what it would take to get over the line in the title race, the Gunners boss explained: "Doing what we have to do and doing what we've been doing for seven months, exactly that. And the position that we are still in today even though we have lost, I think it's the first time sitting here this season at home and we lost a game, so it's part of the journey to winning and if not, nobody will lose football matches, it's how we react to that and I am very convinced because I know those players in that dressing room and how much we want it that we're going to react immediately."
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