Bukayo Saka believes “this is the year” for Arsenal to win the Premier League title......Read The Full Article>>.....Read The Full Article>>
The winger delivered his bold statement after captaining the Gunners and scoring the second goal in Tuesday’s impressive 2-0 home win over Paris Saint-Germain in the UEFA Champions League.
“I don’t want to put too much pressure on us but I do think that this is the year [for us to win the league],” said Saka. “I think we’ve been close the last two years and we’re getting closer, but this hopefully will be the year.”
Saka’s bold comments emerged in his post-match interview on CBS Sports. Studio guest Thierry Henry, a legend in Arsenal’s last title-winning squad in 2003/04, replied enthusiastically: “I like the way the captain is speaking tonight!”
In another interview on Amazon Prime, Saka added: “I’ve [been a] runner-up a lot. It’s just that spirit in me that I want to win this season, and of course I believe in myself a lot.
“We believe in ourselves, we believe we’re a top team. We showed that tonight. I told the boys we have to make a statement when big teams come to the Emirates.”
Previous title talk
Saka’s belief that Arsenal will win the Premier League follows similar declarations from club captain Martin Odegaard and manager Mikel Arteta on the final day of the 2023/24 campaign.
“We’ve been fighting so long for the big dream,” Odegaard said on Sky Sports, after his side finished just two points behind champions Manchester City.
“We were closer than last year, but now we have to come back even stronger, even more hungry. We are going to push and win everything.”
Arteta echoed his skipper when he told Sky Sports: “If we do what we have to do, we are going to be closer and at the end we will win it. When I don’t know, but if we keep knocking and come that close, in the end it will happen.”
‘Anxiety is through the roof’
Saka may not wish to put Arsenal under pressure by what he said on Tuesday, but team-mate Declan Rice admitted after last weekend’s dramatic late 4-2 win over Leicester City that he’s already feeling it.
“Mentally it is tough and the anxiety is through the roof,” Rice told football.london.
“You know the pressure of playing for Arsenal, you have to win every game. When it went to 2-2, it was tough. You look up at the clock, thinking, ‘We cannot drop points today if we want to win the title.'”
As for Arsenal’s major obstacle in the title race, Man City defender Manuel Akanji said defiantly after the recent 2-2 draw between the title rivals: “In the end we always won the title and I don’t think it’s going to be different this year.
“It’s still early in the season, but we’re going to win the league again.”
