A disappointed Mikel Arteta told his players to “show their teeth” and said he was praying they remain injury-free during the international break after a 1-1 draw with Chelsea that meant Arsenal lost further ground in the title race.
Arsenal, who have fallen nine points behind Liverpool at the top of the table, missed an opportunity to get their campaign back on track during a tense encounter at Stamford Bridge. Arteta’s side, in fourth place after squandering eight points from winning positions this season, could not hold on after going ahead through Gabriel Martinelli, Pedro Neto levelling for Chelsea and lifting them to third.
The frustration gnawed at Arsenal, who missed late chances to end a four-match winless run. Arteta, who does not expect Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice to feature for England during the Nations League after both limped off during the second half, bemoaned a defensive lapse for Neto’s goal. He urged his team to dig in and focus on catching Liverpool.
“When it gets nasty, show your teeth and show how much you want it,” Arsenal’s manager said. “When it’s Disneyland it’s very easy. Everybody’s next to you, telling you how beautiful you are. When it gets dark and difficult and everybody’s questioning it, that’s when I want to see people. I’m looking around. Who is going to step in that box? Yes or no?”
Arteta’s message on how to close the gap on Arsenal’s competitors was clear. “Win, win, win, win and win because these guys [our rivals] don’t stop winning,” he said. “That’s what we have to do.”
Arsenal, winless away from home in the league since 15 September, have been struggling with a host of fitness concerns. Arteta was unsure whether Martin Ødegaard would represent Norway after returning from an ankle injury and he hopes that further problems do not crop up while his players are away on international duty.
“What I’m praying is that after the international break we have the team fully physically equipped,” he said. “That they are available and that they are fit, because it’s been a nightmare for eight weeks.
“Doubt after doubt, issue after issue, not only with the ones that are not able to play, but with the ones who are able to play only for certain moments and not able to play. I’m just asking that, because the desire the team has and how much we want it, there’s no question. It’s going to come. We just need that on our side to be more consistent.”
Rice played with a broken toe against Chelsea and Saka was withdrawn near the end, leaving Arteta doubtful about their chances of playing in England’s games against Greece and the Republic of Ireland.
“It doesn’t look good, because for two players of that importance to tell you they cannot continue in the game, obviously it’s not good news,” he said. “Two players that just came off, I don’t know whether to expect them to be fit because if not they don’t come off.”
England will also be sweating on the possibility of Cole Palmer pulling out. Enzo Maresca did not know whether the Chelsea attacker, who was limping after the final whistle, would be able to link up with Lee Carsley’s squad.
Maresca was pleased with Chelsea’s performance and he played down Noni Madueke heading down the tunnel when the winger was taken off for Mykhailo Mudryk in the second half.
“The problem is when you change a player, they are never happy,” Chelsea’s head coach said. “Probably the only way to be happy is after the Wolves game where he scored a hat-trick and we changed him, so he was happy. It’s not only about Noni, it’s about all the players.
“It’s a good thing because they want to be there until the end. But we thought in different ways, probably Pedro with Timber could be a little bit more aggressive – and also with Misha [Mudryk]. It was a tactical decision.”
