Arsenal Determined to Keep Up the Fight Despite Liverpool’s Lead
Despite Arne Slot’s Liverpool being well ahead in the league standings, Arsenal remains focused on their goal and determined to fight until the end.
Liverpool’s relentless pace in the Premier League title race has left little room for their competitors. However, Arsenal refuses to give up just yet. Midfielder Declan Rice, brimming with confidence after their dominant win over Manchester City, has vowed to keep fighting until the end.
City’s title defense has been far from smooth. A string of poor results in November and December has effectively pushed them out of serious contention. While the reigning champions have shown signs of recovery in the new year, their latest setback was a humbling defeat at the hands of Arsenal.
Mikel Arteta’s men ran riot against Pep Guardiola’s powerhouse side on Sunday, thrashing them 5-1 at home. Rice, who played a key role in two of the goals, made it clear after the match that Arsenal intends to stay in the fight for the title.
Arsenal currently sits second in the table with 50 points from 24 games, having won 14 and drawn 8. However, Liverpool, who have played one game fewer, hold a six-point lead. Slot’s men have been in sensational form as they chase their 20th league title, but Rice insists the season is far from over.
“Liverpool are still well ahead of us, especially since they have a game in hand. And after their win yesterday (a 2-0 victory over Bournemouth on Saturday), we knew we had to win today,” said Rice.
“The most frustrating games are ones like the Aston Villa match (on January 18), where we were leading 2-0 but ended up dropping points (drawing 2-2). If we had won that, we could have closed the gap on Liverpool even more. But we will keep fighting. We need a bit of help from others, but we know our goal. That is to beat them and win the league.”
The experienced English midfielder knows that staying positive is crucial if Arsenal is to stay in the title race.
In the past two seasons, Arsenal had strong title hopes midway through the campaign, only to falter in the latter stages—allowing City to capitalize and lift the trophy.
This time, however, they crushed City with goals from Martin Ødegaard, Thomas Partey, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz, and Ethan Nwaneri. That emphatic victory may have all but ended City’s already slim title hopes.
City now sits fourth in the table with 41 points from 24 games, trailing league leaders Liverpool by 15 points.
