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Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has refused to concede defeat in the Premier League title race despite Liverpool extending their lead to 11 points over the weekend.
The Gunners suffered a damaging 1-0 defeat at home to West Ham on Saturday, allowing Liverpool to increase their dominance over the North Londoners with a 2-0 win at Manchester City a day later.
Arteta’s men have played a game less than the Reds and will look to try and reduce the gap when they visit Nottingham Forest on Wednesday.
When asked if Liverpool’s lead is too much to reel in, Arteta responded: “Over my dead body”, while insisting his side will keep fighting until is it no mathematically possible.
He added: “If not I will go home. Mathematically it is possible. You are there, you have to play every game, suddenly three days ago we could close a gap and you are like ‘you are one-and-a-half games away’. It doesn’t matter, we have to continue to go.
“The difficulty is higher than three days about but if you are going to win the Premier League you have to do something special.
“If you are going to win the Premier League with the circumstances we have you will probably have to do something that nobody else has done in the history of the Premier League.”
“If not, I’d go home” 🏡
Mikel Arteta says he won’t give up on the Premier League title until it’s mathematically impossible 🔢🏆 pic.twitter.com/Qib3vUds4Q
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 25, 2025
Arteta: ‘Very disappointing weekend’
Liverpool’s draw with Aston Villa a few days earlier had given Arsenal the chance to reduce the gap but instead, they are now clinging on in the title race after suffering their first league defeat in 15 games courtesy of Jarrod Bowen’s goal.
Arteta said: “It was a very disappointing weekend. The previous 15 games we had won 10 and drawn five – exactly the same as Liverpool with exactly the same goal difference.
“So we have been extremely consistent over the last three months considering everything we have been through.
“We have generated that momentum and it was that weekend where we have to go again but we got a defeat. On top of that they [Liverpool] win.
“When you are trying to beat that momentum and we put so much into it with the circumstances that we have, it was a really hard one to take. The reality is there are so many games to play and you have to get back to it.”
On if the defeat by West Ham was his most frustrating, Arteta said: “I don’t know, it’s not a frustration.
“It’s a feeling of knowing how much we had put into it, to be where we are, that when you have a chance to take another step and then on Wednesday will have to be another one and then on Sunday another one – especially with the form Liverpool are in.
“It was a tough one to take, especially at home where we have been so consistent.”