Bukayo Saka has pushed back against the suggestion that Arsenal are buckling under the weight of the Premier League title race and urged his team to concentrate on fundamentals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just think we have to get back to our level. Do the basics right and we\u2019ve got more than enough quality in this team to win games, especially in the games where we\u2019ve been dropping points in recently. We need to fix that and that\u2019s all our focus is right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saka accepted the dressing room mood has dipped and acknowledged clear failings. He \u201cdropped our standards big time,\u201d and added: \u201cIt\u2019s very flat,\u201d Saka said of the mood in the dressing room. \u201cIt\u2019s time for us to reflect on the last few performances and fix the issues immediately, so we can get back to winning games, go on a run and build momentum because we\u2019ve lost that a bit right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manager Mikel Arteta cited injuries as a threat to Arsenal\u2019s campaign. The absences of Martin \u00d8degaard, Kai Havertz and Mikel Merino, together with Saka\u2019s late withdrawal on Wednesday, complicate selection and preparation. The defeat against Wolves, however, was attributed in the report to a negative second-half approach, poor decisions and an uncharacteristic defensive error when David Raya tangled with Gabriel, allowing Wolves a late equaliser.<\/p>\n
Frustration spilled over at full time when Gabriel Jesus was involved in a post-match brawl after reacting to celebrations from Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera.<\/p>\n
The result has been framed as an opening for Manchester City, but the piece emphasises Arsenal remain in control of their destiny. The standings and upcoming fixtures as noted:<\/p>\n
Arsenal (58 points)<\/p>\n
Man City (53 points)<\/p>\n
Tottenham (A) \u2013 Feb. 22<\/p>\n
Newcastle (H) \u2013 Feb. 21<\/p>\n
Chelsea (H) \u2013 March 1<\/p>\n
Leeds (A) \u2013 Feb. 28<\/p>\n
Brighton (A) \u2013 March 4<\/p>\n
Nott\u2019m Forest (H) \u2013 March 4<\/p>\n
Everton (H) \u2013 March 15<\/p>\n
West Ham (A) – March 14<\/p>\n
Bournemouth (H) \u2013 April 11<\/p>\n
Chelsea (A) \u2013 April 11<\/p>\n
Even if City win their game in hand, Arsenal could still sit two points clear, with all eyes on the meeting between the two teams that is currently slated for April 18. Both sides know they can guarantee the title by winning all remaining matches, but Arsenal retain a slender margin that gives them some latitude.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saka rejects claims Arsenal are crumbling, urging a return to basics and immediate correction. more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6949,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,969],"tags":[826],"class_list":["post-6950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-premier-league","tag-bukayo-saka"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6950","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6950"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6950\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6950"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6950"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6950"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}