Mikel Arteta Optimistic About Arsenal’s Title Hopes Due to Easier Fixtures and Injury Recoveries

🕓 Last updated on March 3, 2025

Arsenal seek to close the gap with league leaders Liverpool. (Photo by Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

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Mikel Arteta is hopeful that Arsenal’s easier run of fixtures and injury recoveries will reignite their title hopes over the hectic Christmas period.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is optimistic that the team’s upcoming fixtures and improving injury situation will reignite their Premier League title aspirations. Currently trailing league leaders Liverpool by nine points, Arsenal’s recent form has been hampered by a challenging fixture list and a series of injuries to key players.

The Gunners faced a tough start to the season, with away games against top teams like Tottenham, Newcastle United, Manchester City, and Chelsea. These fixtures, coupled with injuries to crucial players such as captain Martin Odegaard, have seen Arsenal struggle to maintain consistency. Arteta acknowledged the difficulties, stating, “Teams have had various contexts and difficulties than others, but after 18, 20, 25 games we will see where everybody is. Hopefully, we are going to be there”.

The upcoming fixtures provide a glimmer of hope for Arsenal. Compared to their rivals, Arsenal’s schedule over the Christmas period is relatively more manageable. This period is crucial for building momentum, and Arteta is keen to capitalize on it. “We feel that it is the right moment now to start building that momentum. We weren’t able to do it in terms of results a bit earlier which we wanted but let’s do it now”.

With key players returning to fitness and a more favorable fixture list, Arteta believes this is the perfect opportunity for Arsenal to close the gap at the top of the table. “Now it’s about winning. Anything that is not that just creates a different emotion and you cannot get dragged into that especially so early in the season. That’s for us to control and be very analytical and very thorough on the things that we need to perform at the highest level to earn the right to win”.

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