Mikel Arteta had plenty to say on the state of his squad heading into the biggest week of the season so far. Arsenal know that this time next week they could be ten points ahead of Manchester City having played two games more than their nearest rivals.
That would be quite the gap to overturn for Pep Guardiola, even if the real points difference may just be four. On the other hand, should Arsenal fail to beat Southampton and then lose to City away at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday they could find the current champions just one point away with two games still to play.
Ahead of the game Arteta wasn't able to give much good news to anxious fans either. The Spaniard was without key defensive duo Oleksandr Zinchenko and William Saliba for the 2-2 draw with West Ham and are yet to keep a clean sheet without the latter since his injury last month.
