Arsenal were left stunnedplaceholder image
Arsenal were left stunned | Getty Images
Bukayo Saka and Mikel Arteta have been speaking after Arsenal’s frustrating draw with Wolves.
Arsenal star Bukayo Saka has attempted to take the pressure off this weekend’s North London derby with Tottenham. The Gunners suffered a major slip-up in their title race on Wednesday night when they blew a two-goal lead against bottom club Wolves.
Saka scored the opener at the Molineux, while Piero Hincapie scored the second, only for Santi Bueno to score a screamer, and Tom Edozie smashed home an equaliser from close range in stoppage time.
The Gunners have some tough games coming up, so what should have been a gimme against a Wolves side well and truly headed to the Championship, is the type of game Mikel Arteta’s men need to be taking care of.
Failure to win that kind of game puts pressure on Arsenal to win the tougher games, and while Tottenham are not in good form, the derby will be seen as a tougher game, with form so often going out the window in derbies, while the Gunners also have that added pressure on the back of the Wolves result.
But Saka has tried to play down the notion that there is extra pressure on the derby. He said: “It was already a big game and now it's still a big game. We just know these last few games that we have left, we need to win.
“It's still in our control so we just need to focus on that, fix the issues we're having now and get back to winning ways.”
Asked about the mood in the dressing room, the winger added: “It's pretty flat. We’re pretty disappointed with the result, it’s the only way to describe it. I think it's a game of two halves. In the first half we started so well but in the second half we dropped the level and got punished for it.”
What Arteta has said
Asked about how the Wolves draw impacts preparations for the derby, Arteta said: “I think we need to go through the pain, and you need to go through that, looking in the mirror and understanding what the game requires now, and the next action is on Sunday. That's it. Anything that we say from here today is fine, but we need to keep all that in our tummies to show it on Sunday. That's what we have to do.”
Arteta also spoke to the very real factor of opposing teams being able to use the title-chasing pressure against Arsenal. “That's an obvious thing,” added the Spaniard. “If you are at the top and you have to win, you have to win and win and win. That's nothing new. Everything will be like this from the first game when they play Arsenal.”
Continue Reading