Arsenal focus on Burnley as Arteta eyes final home step

“Nothing; we focus just on the things that are in our hands, which is preparing the best possible way to beat Burnley, that’s it,” he said.

That message ran through his press conference. Arsenal’s position at the top of the table has brought wider discussion about title permutations, goal difference and what could follow if results go their way, but Arteta repeatedly brought the conversation back to Burnley.

“We prefer just to beat Burnley, that’s it.” Simple.

Asked again about possible plans for Tuesday, when Man City travel to Bournemouth knowing that, if Arsenal have beaten Burnley, any dropped points would hand the title to the Gunners, he said, “Again, I’m sorry, we’re not thinking about that type of thing, the only focus is Burnley and winning the game. That’s the thing that we can control.”

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Arteta believes his squad are handling the moment well, with the team emotionally settled and determined to finish the season properly. The injury situation, however, is not straightforward. Ben White has been ruled out after suffering a knee injury against West Ham, while Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori remain uncertain.

“The team is really present, it’s just living the moment, it’s emotionally in a really good state, I think, it’s the right one,” Arteta said. “We have most players available now. OK, we lost Ben [White] the other day, but the other ones are coming back as well. Everybody is so enthusiastic and so positive about the way that we can finish the season.”

White’s absence leaves Arsenal short at right-back, particularly with Timber still working his way back. Arteta confirmed the England defender faces a lengthy spell out. “We have to wait and see, it looks like a long-term injury,” Arteta confirmed. “At the moment, the focus is that can we have him back and be available for Arsenal and that’s not going to happen in many, many weeks.” Thankfully, it doesn’t seem like he will need surgery.

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On Timber, he added, “He wanted to be very close to the team. He’s progressed a little bit in the last few days. We’re going to try to get him fit and available as quickly as possible, but let’s see. He’s been out for a while, unfortunately. He’s such an important player for us. We all know that and he’s doing everything he can to help the team in any capacity. We know his leadership, his quality and how much the team needs him.”

Asked whether Timber could still feature this season, Arteta said, “There is a chance. But how big the chance is, I cannot tell you. I’m being completely honest. He’s going to try to do everything he can to convert that chance as high as possible in the shortest possible period, and that’s the challenge ahead.”

Calafiori is also being assessed after coming off against West Ham. “No, we don’t know whether he’s going to be available,” Arteta said. “We still have days ahead. Hopefully, it’s nothing serious. We’ll have to wait and see how he reacts.”

With White and Timber unavailable at the moment, Arteta admitted Arsenal will have to find solutions in defence.

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“We need to look at alternatives,” he said. “The two players that we have, they are not available at the moment, so we need to look and do something else. The good thing is that we have experienced that all over the pitch this season, because when we had issues, normally they were in the same positions as well, and we have managed still to find the right level of performance and consistency, so I’m sure we will do that.”

Cristhian Mosquera, Declan Rice and Myles Lewis-Skelly have all been part of those discussions in recent weeks, and Arteta made clear that flexibility will be needed again.

“There are different options in relation to the opponents as well as the things I want to do. Not only one, but two or three options, because games can vary, players can pick up an injury. I don’t know. I want to be flexible on that.”

He was also asked about Calafiori and Rice being used in unfamiliar roles, and said the judgement must include what Arsenal lose elsewhere by moving players around.

“I think the sample is so tiny,” he said. “It’s very difficult to judge a player when he has low minutes. Declan Rice, when he’s played as a full-back, against Brighton, was exceptional. But then the other night, it was something else. It depends. The sample is still so little, it will remain so little from here to the end of the season to judge if a player is good enough who can perform in the position, and what is the cost of moving that player from one position to the other, and that’s the balance that we need to find.”

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Arteta added that the squad’s ability to absorb injuries and keep winning has been one of the most pleasing features of the season. “Probably the capacity to adapt to very difficult and demanding circumstances and still perform and win the number of games that we’ve done.”

He also linked that adaptability to recruitment, stressing the importance of players able to operate in different positions during such a demanding campaign.

“That goes back to recruitment as well,” he explained. “With the necessities and the demands that the players have nowadays, we need players who are comfortable, able and have the qualities to perform in different positions. Otherwise, it becomes really difficult, especially when you’ve been hit with injuries in the same positions for long periods of time. It would have been unsustainable. But the team has done, in that sense, I think is remarkable.”

There was also a wider question about goal difference, with Arsenal aware that the title race may yet be decided by fine margins. Arteta did not dismiss its importance, but again said the first job is to win.

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“First of all, you have to earn the right to win the game,” he said. “Obviously, you can make a difference with more goals, that’s obviously even better. But we’re all playing very tough matches. We had a tough match against West Ham and we managed to win it. It was a great feeling, but we know ideally that scoring goals is going to be important.”

He added, “I think it’s part of the narrative. There are various options and this could be one of those. It’s a factor that is important from the start of the season. We know that the difference is so small, and if you can make the difference bigger in your favour, obviously, we want to do it.”

The manager was also asked about the reaction to West Ham’s disallowed goal. Arteta said he had not followed the confected outrage over what was a correct call that should not have been remotely controversial, but was clear on the decision.

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“The reaction from our side is extremely positive, because we were so happy with the outcome and the fact that we won the game, such an important game for us as well,” he said. “We had a really, really intense week with the Champions League semi-final. In relation to the reaction, I haven’t seen any of that, I’m sorry, I’m very consistent on that since July to now, I think it’s very clear, I don’t think anybody that has football knowledge would question about the decision and that they took the right one.”

Monday’s game will bring Arsenal back home for the final time this season, and Arteta hopes the atmosphere around the stadium can again feed into the team. He spoke warmly about the supporters meeting the team coach before the Atletico Madrid game, saying it had created a different level of connection.

There are plans to meet the coach again ahead of this game.

“I loved it. I think all the players have loved it. I think he builds an energy connection with them that we haven’t experienced before. The whole preparation and the whole atmosphere showed that the level of meaning was higher and the level of implication and desire and passion from our supporters was different as well. It really helped.”

Arteta said the reaction inside the group was immediate.

“The players were in the other bus, but I could see straight away all the staff and everybody was there looking at each other,” he said. “I said, wow, we’re taking this now to a different level. Just looking at the engagement, the passion, the enthusiasm of our fans in their eyes, I think that was something.”

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That connection could matter again against Burnley. Arsenal have played through a gruelling schedule, including making it to the Champions League final, but Arteta wants the final home night to become another step towards something bigger.

“It’s the schedule that we have,” he said. “Obviously, it’s been extremely demanding from the beginning. The team has coped with that in a really fantastic way. There is no other choice. We have the opportunity and our supporters. It’s going to be a Monday night. Let’s take it in a really positive way. Hopefully, we do something incredible with our supporters. We can replicate any of that.”

Arteta also reflected on the defeat to City earlier in the run-in, describing it as a moment Arsenal used rather than one that damaged them.

“It was a reset moment,” he said. “The performance was there and I think we deserved much more when we got out of the game. But we used that as fuel to be even more convinced and to understand that what we’ve done up to now is fine, let’s learn every bit of it and now let’s use it for the last five games. That’s what remains and we have every chance to go and do it.”

Asked whether he feels Arsenal have one hand on the Premier League trophy, Arteta refused to go beyond the next match.

“I feel that we have another opportunity on Monday to take a step closer, and that’s the only thing.”

That has been the message throughout. Arsenal are close, but Arteta is not allowing the conversation to move beyond Burnley.

The title race may have reached its final 180 minutes, but for Arsenal, the final home game of the season is not a celebration yet.

It is another job to be done.