Mikel Arteta defends Arsenal after back-to-back defeats and insists the Gunners are ‘fully focused’ on re-taking Premier League top spot by beating Wolves

Mikel Arteta has defended Arsenal despite back-to-back defeats that have halted the Gunners’ momentum at home and in Europe.

Arsenal surrendered the top spot in the Premier League after a 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa meant Manchester City remained above them in the table, despite having plenty of chances to score.

Then on Wednesday, Joshua Kimmich scored a second-half header to send Bayern Munich through to the Champions League semi-finals at the Gunners’ expense.

Arteta admitted this week ‘wasn’t the best experience’, but said that Arsenal were not looking back, but remained glued in to the title race at home – starting with Saturday’s trip to Gary O’Neil’s Wolves, which would take them back top with a win. 

‘Now we’re fully focused on the ties that we have ahead of us’, Arteta said. ‘We’re a game behind City and we’re gonna give it a real go. A lot of the time it’s because the margins that we are competing with are decided in May. 

Mikel Arteta has defended Arsenal despite back-to-back defeats halting their hunt for trophies

A dismal 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa meant they missed the opportunity to go top of the league

Then Gunners were eliminated from the Champions League after 1-0 defeat at Bayern Munich 

‘Before that you have to be extremely consistent. We should have won the game vs Villa and we played the price for missing our chances. Now it’s not about talking too much, we have to show what we’re made of in Wolves

‘The context is clear. If we win, we are top of the league. If you need anything else to be motivated and if you need anything else to keep your mind clear you have a problem.’

When asked if he should be rotating more, Arteta admitted: ‘It is a possibility. That’s always going to come when you lose a game. When we beat Brighton no one asked these questions. That’s part of our industry.

‘It’s been a very intense journey. When you are near the top and you’re fighting at such a level you know you’re going to do that. This job is constantly testing your resilience and your ego.

Arteta said they should have beaten Aston Villa, but were fully focused on beating Wolves 

‘All the time you have to go through that in a natural way and positively. The better you become and the closer that you are to fighting the best teams in history you know what the margins are. When you are there’s one of two ways you can go.

‘There’s only one winner. If you want to go from not being in the Champions League for seven years to fighting for the league for two years – I can’t think of another team that has done that.’

Arsenal play Wolves on Saturday evening and Chelsea three days later, before Man City return to league action with their game against Brighton on Thursday night.