EPL

Arteta expects 'twists' in top-four race with rivals Tottenham

By Sports Desk April 15, 2022

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta expects more "twists" as the Gunners fight with north London rivals Tottenham for Champions League qualification.

Arteta's side seemingly turned a corner in 2022 as they surged to fourth in the Premier League, but consecutive losses against Crystal Palace and Brighton and Hove Albion have handed the advantage to Spurs.

Antonio Conte's team sit three points ahead of fifth-placed Arsenal, who have played a game fewer, as the pair contest alongside West Ham for a place in England's top four.

But Arteta, speaking ahead of the clash with Southampton on Saturday, insists there should be more changes and drama expected as the season heads towards its conclusion.

Asked who was in control of the top-four push, he responded on Friday: "Whoever manages to win more games and play better.

"There's going to be some twists still for sure and the pressure and situation is going to keep changing between now and the end of the season. We have to be focused on us and what we have to do.

"Every game [is important], but obviously when you lose, the next game takes more importance and we know that."

Arsenal are set to visit Tottenham in the penultimate week of the season in what is being billed as a decider for the final Champions League spot, but Arteta does not feel more pressure despite the rivalry.

"I think it's related to our history and we want to be not fourth, but third, second or first, and that's what we have to do," he added.

"That's always within every supporter and anybody who has any connection with the club, so the moment you see the team doing better and having better aspirations, your tendency is to get excited about it and I think that's the right reaction."

Arsenal began their 2021-22 campaign with three consecutive league losses in August, and defeat at Southampton would reproduce the same unwanted feat.

Arteta's team are in much better stead now, but the Spaniard dismissed suggestions that the Gunners would have settled for fifth in the Premier League after their abject start.

"At the start of the season? You cannot take anything because you don't know how things are going to develop," he continued.

"You could ask me a week into the season or two weeks before, I could maybe give you a different answer, but no, no."

Alexandre Lacazette has not scored from open play in the league since a strike in December against Southampton, who he has been involved in seven goals in six top-flight appearances against.

Reports suggest Lacazette missed training in midweek, but Arteta assured there is a "good possibility" he will play, while he hailed Bukayo Saka, who is the only English player to have registered both 50-plus shots and 50 or more chances created in the competition this term.

"He's a great kid, and he has a really clear idea of what he needs to expect," he said of the England international. "The better he does, the more difficult they are going to try and make it for him, that's for sure.

"I think he needs the protection that all the players need at this level, nothing different, nothing special.

"The best players and the talented players are always going to be, closely looked at, and they are going to close the space and they are going to be tight on them.

"Bukayo has to recognise that is going to be the case. Referees have to recognise that as well, early in the game, and then try to protect them."

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    The 26-year-old has made nine appearances for the Canaries since returning on Boxing Day after eight months out with an Achilles injury.

    However, Hanley has missed his club’s last two matches in the Championship after limping out of their defeat at Middlesbrough earlier this month.

    It was confirmed by the Scottish Football Association on Tuesday morning that Hanley will not feature in Scotland’s upcoming friendly double-header, meaning he will not have played for the national team for more than a year by the time Steve Clarke selects his squad for the European Championships.

    Norwich manager David Wagner said after Saturday’s win at Stoke that, after conversations with Hanley and the club’s fitness and medical staff, they had agreed to “pull him out of team training because he is not as explosive and as sharp as he was when he was on his best.”

    “He is a very physical centre-half,” added Wagner. “If he is physically on his best then he is one of the best, or the best, in the division. We have to make sure, and he feels the same, to get him back to that level.

    “So we now pull him out of team training and we give him a proper individual programme in the next couple of weeks, or how long it will take, to get back to that level.

    “Obviously, we all together know it was a very serious injury and it takes time, even if we are happy that his Achilles is fine. But we have to get him back to the explosive, sharp Grant Hanley he was before his injury.”

    It remains to be seen if Scotland will call up a replacement centre-back for Hanley, who won the last of his 48 caps in the home win over Spain a year ago.

  • Grant Hanley pulls out of Scotland squad for upcoming friendlies Grant Hanley pulls out of Scotland squad for upcoming friendlies

    Grant Hanley has withdrawn from the Scotland squad for the friendlies against Netherlands and Northern Ireland as Norwich strive to get the defender back to full fitness.

    The 26-year-old has made nine appearances for the Canaries since returning on Boxing Day after eight months out with an Achilles injury.

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    It was confirmed by the Scottish Football Association on Tuesday morning that Hanley will not feature in Scotland’s upcoming friendly double-header, meaning he will not have played for the national team for more than a year by the time Steve Clarke selects his squad for the European Championships.

    Norwich manager David Wagner said after Saturday’s win at Stoke that, after conversations with Hanley and the club’s fitness and medical staff, they had agreed to “pull him out of team training because he is not as explosive and as sharp as he was when he was on his best.”

    “He is a very physical centre-half,” added Wagner. “If he is physically on his best then he is one of the best, or the best, in the division. We have to make sure, and he feels the same, to get him back to that level.

    “So we now pull him out of team training and we give him a proper individual programme in the next couple of weeks, or how long it will take, to get back to that level.

    “Obviously, we all together know it was a very serious injury and it takes time, even if we are happy that his Achilles is fine. But we have to get him back to the explosive, sharp Grant Hanley he was before his injury.”

    It remains to be seen if Scotland will call up a replacement centre-back for Hanley, who won the last of his 48 caps in the home win over Spain a year ago.

  • Paul Gallacher backing Hearts duo Zander Clark and Craig Gordon for Euro 2024 Paul Gallacher backing Hearts duo Zander Clark and Craig Gordon for Euro 2024

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    Gordon, 41, was the undisputed number one for both Scotland and Hearts prior to sustaining a career-threatening double leg break 15 months ago.

    Clark took the gloves at Tynecastle after Gordon’s injury and has held on to them since the veteran returned to contention in December.

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    “Craig’s back, he’s absolutely back,” said the goalie coach. “You see him make saves every day in training and you just go ‘yep, that’s him back’.

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    “He was a good goalkeeper when he first came to the club but he has kicked on under severe pressure.

    “Not a lot of folk could cope with that pressure of coming in to replace Craig Gordon, a Hearts legend, but he’s stood up and done it, which is no easy feat. That cannot be underestimated.

    “There has been pressure on both of them but they’ve dealt with it brilliantly.”

    Gunn appears to have become Scotland’s first-choice keeper since Gordon’s injury, but Gallacher is adamant both Hearts goalies would be perfectly equipped mentally and physically to play against Group A opponents Germany, Hungary or Switzerland in June if required.

    “I know from working closely with them how the two of them can handle occasions,” said Gallacher, who won eight Scotland caps between 2002 and 2004.

    “Zander, the way he’s playing, could handle it no problem at all. And Craig, with the number of caps he’s got (74), could be pitched in no problem at all.

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    Gallacher laughed off any notion that their mutual determination to play for club and country might have had a detrimental effect on the relationship between Gordon and Clark, who has been restricted to just three Scottish Cup outings since his rival’s return.

    “They’re brilliant, honestly, there is no animosity whatsoever,” he said. “They’re great guys, brilliant to be around.

    “But when they’re on that pitch, they push each other. They’re all about trying to improve and striving to be the number one for this football club.

    “We are truly blessed to have two guys of that calibre battling for the number one jersey at Hearts.”

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