Arteta focused on West Ham, rather than title race

Heading into this weekend’s fixtures, Mikel Arteta wants his players to focus on earning three points against West Ham United, rather than the title race picture.

With leaders Liverpool dropping points in their last two matches, we could move five points behind the Merseysiders on Saturday evening should we do the business against the Hammers, ahead of the Reds’ trip to Manchester City on Sunday.

With that in mind, many journalists have been stating that the next 48 hours have the ability to be pivotal in the championship fight, but Mikel has stressed the importance of focusing on what we can control at Emirates Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

“I see an opportunity for us to keep winning and keep on our journey to the goal that we want at the end of the season, which is to win [the title]” he said in his pre-match press conference. “That’s the only thing we can focus on.

“We have to do our job and it’s going to be a tough one tomorrow against West Ham. If we do that, we’ll be looking at that game on Sunday. With 13 games to go there’s still a lot to play for.

"I don’t like “ifs” in football or sport. Let’s do what we have to do, and if the “if” comes right, great, but let's make sure that what is in our hands, we do it.”

Having gone toe-to-toe with Manchester City in each of the past two seasons and just come up a little short at the end, Mikel believes those experiences will stand us in good stead against a new challenger this time around.

Liverpool are seeking just their second league title in 35 years and Mikel admits that does bring a different feel to the challenge this time around, but regardless of who we’re up against, he knows we have to remain in the race for as long as possible to get our hands on the silverware.

Assessing what we’ve picked up over the past couple of title tilts, the boss added: "We have been in different situations. Sometimes we’ve been leading, sometimes at this stage we have been behind and then we jumped a bit. Every year feels a little bit different. The ambition, the hope, the willingness, the energy is always there because the prize is so big.

“The margins are so small and everything counts. We had numbers that, in any other Premier League title race, probably could’ve won it. We didn’t, so that shows you the level and the difficulty of it, but the fact that we experienced it recently helps because we know what it’s going to take to do it.

“Because Man City have done it for six or seven years, it is different, but to be fair [Liverpool] have been very consistent and exceptional in what they are doing. But it’s a long journey for everybody and we have to be there.”