Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has called for his side to embrace their “unprecedented” opportunity to clinch their first Premier League title since 2004.
The Gunners led the league as the top flight paused for the World Cup, and will return to action on Boxing Day when they host West Ham under the lights.
Their league-leading form has created an electric atmosphere at the Emirates, but Arteta insisted his side’s title hopes were grounded in more than just the increasingly vocal expressions of optimism from supporters.
“It’s not just a feeling, it’s also facts and the stats are supporting that the team deserves to win games, which is especially my job,” said Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.
“You know, I want the team to play a certain way, and the more consistent we are on that, the more we are going to win.
“Unfortunately in football you can shoot 30 times and concede one shot and you can lose 1-0, but I think in the long run you’re going to be where you deserve to be and we have the confidence that we are on the right path .
“But as well we have all the red lights and alarms because what is coming in the second part of the season is something unprecedented and we need to be ready for it.
“There is excitement, and we should be excited and we should be embracing the opportunity that we have ahead of us understanding that we have to do much better a lot of things that we are already doing really, really well and that’s it.”
Arteta’s starting XI has been the second-most consistent across the top flight, although he admitted an increasingly crowded fixture list will likely force him into more rotations.
He said: “That’s something that obviously we are very aware of. The type of game that we’ve had to play in Europe has allowed us to make a lot of changes and have a fresher squad for the weekend and then we’ve repeated the starting XI a lot.
“In the second half I don’t think that’s going to be the same type of numbers. We’re going to be playing every three days, the congestion and the amount of games that we have to play is going to be incredible, and we’re going to have more resources and more players to be able to do that.”
The Gunners entered the second half five points clear of Manchester City, setting up a potentially poetic finish to the Premier League season should Arteta’s side best that of his childhood hero Pep Guardiola.
“He was my idol,” said Arteta, who met Guardiola when he was 15 years old and later worked as an assistant under him at City.
“He was the one to try to emulate.”
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