Coach Arteta urges Arsenal to ‘raise the bar’ against Spurs

Mikel Arteta has urged Arsenal to “raise the bar” as the Premier League leaders prepare for a defining moment in the title race against north London rivals Tottenham.
Arteta’s side make the short journey to Spurs tomorrow looking to keep title rivals Manchester City at bay with a vital victory. The Gunners are one point clear of second-placed City, who have a game in hand, and will kick off at Nottingham Forest soon after the final whistle in north London.
After a damaging home defeat against Aston Villa, Arteta’s team have bounced back by winning at Wolves and crushing Chelsea 5-0 on Tuesday. But the Arsenal boss is well aware of the threat posed by fifth-placed Tottenham, who drew 2-2 at the Emirates Stadium in September, and he called on his players to find another gear this weekend.
“Enjoy the moment, try to navigate things to a natural way. Tottenham are super-competitive at the moment. There is one thing to do in this situation, compete, compete, compete,” Arteta said. “It’s a really good sign because we know what we are going to have to do to win it and we have to raise the bar to match that.”
City responded to Arsenal’s emphatic win against Chelsea by crushing Brighton 4-0 on Thursday. Pep Guardiola’s side will be crowned champions for an unprecedented fourth successive season if they win their last five games.
But Arteta is not concerned about his former club’s results, preferring to ensure his team are focused on their own performances. “It’s another game that they managed to win in a convincing way, something that we cannot control. Let’s do what we have to do,” he said.
“You have to show it every season, every game and in this league that’s extremely difficult to do. We are going to do everything we can to win it and if we do win it, we are going to try to win it again. If we don’t, for sure we will try again.”
Arsenal are hoping to win the title for the first time in 20 years after blowing an eight-point lead to gift City the trophy last season. Arsenal famously won the league twice at Tottenham’s old White Hart Lane stadium, in 1971 and 2004.
The Gunners cannot clinch silverware on enemy territory this time, but a victory would keep them in the title hunt while damaging Tottenham’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions League via a top-four finish.
Spurs will be on the attack
against Arsenal: Postecoglou
Meanwhile, Ange Postecoglou insisted Tottenham will stick to his attacking philosophy against Arsenal. Postecoglou’s side cannot afford to lose to their bitter rivals at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as they try to stay in the race to qualify for the Champions League.
Fifth placed Tottenham are six points behind fourth placed Aston Villa, who can extend that advantage to nine if they beat troubled Chelsea today. Tottenham will have three games in hand on Villa by the time they kick off against Arsenal, but Postecoglou knows only victories will do in the battle to finish in the top four.
With that in mind, the Australian has no intention of sending his team into the derby with a defensive mindset, even though Arsenal showed their attacking prowess with a 5-0 rout of Chelsea on Tuesday.
“It’s just about making sure you embrace the challenge and try to tackle it in the way that got us into this position in the first place,” Postecoglou said. “From our perspective we’ve had some inconsistencies and challenges this year, but when we’ve played well we’ve played a certain way and gone about things in a certain way.
“There’s no point now when you get to the most important part of the year to shy away from that or change your approach. You’ve got to double down on it and focus on playing our football. That’s a great measure for us because otherwise you’ll never know where you’re short or whether you can be successful in doing it our way.”
Postecoglou know a Tottenham win this weekend would be a major blow to Arsenal’s bid to win the title. “We understand the importance of being at home in these kind of games to not let our biggest rival win in the biggest derby for us,” he said. “We understand the consequences of that. I’m not going to dictate how our fans feel and what they feel is important.”

Fixtures
Satuurday: (1400 GMT unless stated):
Aston Villa v Chelsea (1900), Everton v Brentford (1630), Fulham v Crystal Palace, Manchester United v Burnley, Newcastle v Sheffield United, West Ham v Liverpool (1130), Wolves v Luton
Sunday (1300 GMT unless stated):
Bournemouth v Brighton, Nottingham Forest v Manchester City (1530), Tottenham v Arsenal