Mikel Arteta looking to make Arsenal ‘really boring’ & is out for ‘revenge’ in Premier League title bid

• Gunners still top the table
• Lead cut to just four points
• Fate in their own hands

WHAT HAPPENED? The north London outfit have set up camp at the summit of the English top-flight table, with only the odd step being taken off the loftiest of perches. Arsenal have, however, dropped precious points in back-to-back 2-2 draws with Liverpool and West Ham and are now just four clear of defending champions Manchester City in a thrilling race to the finish.

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WHAT THEY SAID: Arteta is hoping that his side can bring an end to the drama, as they prepare to face City at the Etihad Stadium on April 26, with the Gunners looking to keep collective focus locked firmly on their own endeavours. Their Spanish coach has said: “That’s the conversation that we had the other day and nobody’s talking about what’s going to happen next Wednesday. We have to become really boring to everybody and be really repetitive and just focus on what we have to do this morning. That’s it.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Before locking horns with City in a heavyweight clash, Arsenal will be looking to get back to winning ways when playing host to rock-bottom Southampton on Friday. Arteta added on the need to start making amends for recent stalemates: “I see a sense of revenge and determination to get it even better and that it’s not enough and you have to tweak it and demand more and more of each other. You can tell from the way they talked, the way they communicated in the meetings we had. The discussions to understand how we move forward after that.

"It was all the right answers – they were very clear on what we want, how we’re going to do it and why it’s taken us all the way here. That’s what we have to continue. We have to be perfectionists but at the same time we have to play with that flow. We are really good when we play with that energy and flow and don’t be thinking about the results. That’s the last thing that we have to do. Twists and turns are part of everything that you do especially in football. It’s not always going to be a linear progression. You have to know that and you have to be prepared for that.”

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT? Arsenal will be hoping to tighten up at the back against the struggling Saints, allowing them to work their way back into form, with only one clean sheet collected in their last eight games across all competitions.