Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted that his side’s confidence took a hit following their 2-1 loss to Swansea City on Wednesday. “It is why we are here in the Premier League, to compete against the best”.
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This is not the first time that City have had to come from behind to seal the crown – in 2012 they won the title after falling eight points behind with six games left to play. “He didn’t do that much before, but now he starts to get into positions where he can score goals”.
While matches between the arch-rivals are always tense, highly-charged occasions, Saturday’s Premier League game has added spice because both are heavily involved in the title race and both lost ground on leaders Leicester City on Wednesday. We have come out of a bad week so we want to have a good week now. In the end it was a 1-0 loss for Spurs as they dropped a chance to go top of the table.
Leicester will be seeking three more points at Watford to continue their nearly unbelievable assault on a first-ever title while Manchester City face bottom club and virtually-doomed Aston Villa at the Etihad.
“Every point or three points we get now on is massive”. However, they will play without Petr Cech, who picked up an injury-time calf strain; the 33-year old goalkeeper has played in all 28 Premier League games for Arsenal this season but will miss tomorrow’s derby.
In contrast, Spurs have only defender Toby Alderweireld, who was a bit-part player when Atletico Madrid won La Liga two seasons ago.
“I don’t know if the capacities of the managers (has changed) or because football has changed, it’s hard to say”. This team shares goals, creates opportunities, they play with intensity and they defend as a group.
“They were all looking at the next three games but, by winning here, we try and build on it and go into Norwich – if we don’t win there and back up the win then we are back at square one. It’s down to us to give them more belief with the quality of our game”. But Ranieri is only concentrating on that game instead of dreaming of a potential title win.
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“At the moment, I believe that we need to get back to positive results before we speak about the championship which is at stake at the moment”.
