Mikel Arteta admits Arsenal have regressed in Premier League

Mikel Arteta has acknowledged that Arsenal have taken a step back in the Premier League this season, pointing to their points total as evidence of the regression.

The Arsenal boss also confirmed that his team will give Liverpool a guard of honour ahead of Sunday’s clash.

The Gunners will be looking to bounce back from their midweek Champions League defeat to PSG when they face the already-crowned league champions.

Despite securing a second-place finish for the third consecutive season, Arsenal’s lead over third-place Manchester City is just three points.

Man City, who face already-relegated Southampton this weekend, still have a mathematical chance to leapfrog Arsenal.

Ahead of the match, Arteta reflected on his team’s progress in Europe, admitting they have improved on the continental stage but acknowledged the setback in their domestic form.

“In the Champions League, we have because we did better than last season but not where we want because we wanted to win it,” he said.

“In the Premier League, we’ve made a step backwards. With the points we’ve created, it’s clear we haven’t done as well as last season.”

In each of the last two seasons, Arsenal have surpassed the 80-point mark. They finished the 2022/23 campaign with 84 points and improved to 89 points last season.

Mikel Arteta believes that, based on those tallies, Arsenal could have won the Premier League title in previous years.

“We [the current Arsenal squad] are there,” he said. “With the amount of points we generated over the last few seasons, we could have two Premier Leagues.

“We’re not close, we are there. We are providing the numbers that win you titles. We have to be a little bit luckier, do better and hope nobody does better than you.

“You need a lot of factors to go your way, like that decision in the clinical moment… We’ve tried to amplify the margins. The bigger the margins are, then it will be very difficult for the opposition.”