Mansion Sports – Mikel Arteta affirmed that Arsenal players are now “more convinced” than ever that they can win the Premier League title.

Despite suffering a narrow 2-1 defeat to Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, which caused The Gunners to lose control in the title race, the Spanish manager believes that his squad remains focused on the main objective.

Arteta Finds Confidence in Defeat

Arsenal’s lead at the top of the standings has been reduced to just three points after a second-half goal from Erling Haaland secured victory for Pep Guardiola’s side.

City now has one game in hand and can surpass Arsenal on goal difference if they defeat Burnley in midweek, but Arteta remains unaffected by the shift in momentum.

“I believed today, I believed on Wednesday, a week ago because I see them every day and I know the level that we have,” explained the Arsenal manager.

“But today, if the players needed more belief, I think they are now more convinced. They were talking about it in the dressing room.

“This is a new phase now. They have one game in hand. We have a three-point lead and five matches remaining. So everything is still possible. We will not stop and we will keep moving forward, that is certain.”

Missed Opportunities at the Etihad

The Gunners showed a much stronger performance compared to previous matches, but were ultimately undone by more effective finishing.

Rayan Cherki opened the scoring for the home side before Kai Havertz equalized after capitalizing on a mistake from Gianluigi Donnarumma.

However, Havertz was later less effective in front of goal, missing two headed chances that could have changed the course of the title race.

“We came here to win the game,” said Arteta regarding his tactical approach.

“I think that message was clear from three days before. We prepared ourselves to do that, to take the game into areas where we believed we could win it. We really did it, even though we started the match from behind and psychologically we had to play with that situation.”

“We managed to do that. So we proved that we are there. But the reality is that in both penalty boxes today there was a difference and that determined the match.”

No Need for a Moral Boost

With Arsenal currently recording four defeats in their last six matches across all competitions, questions have arisen regarding the squad’s psychological condition.

Arteta quickly dismissed the notion that he needs to lift the players’ morale ahead of the final five matches of the season.

“I mean, if I have to choose players to win the Premier League with five matches left in our hands and being in the Champions League final, then I should be at home,” emphasized Arteta. “So that is not the issue. It is not needed. It has never been needed, even in difficult moments.”

Final Stretch for The Gunners

Arsenal must now respond quickly ahead of their match against Newcastle United next weekend. Although the advantage has now shifted to City, Arteta remains confident that the end-of-season pressure will not break his young squad. “This is a new league now. Everything is still possible,” Arteta concluded.

The Gunners must also prepare for the Champions League quarter-final match against Atletico Madrid in their pursuit of both domestic and European titles.