Arteta brushes off gap to City: 'We are alive'

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has played down the significance of a five-point gap to Premier League leaders Manchester City by backing his team to respond in the title race after Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Liverpool.

Bukayo Saka opened the scoring with his 50th league goal after nine minutes before Virgin van Dijk’s 18th-minute header drew the visitors level. Mikel Merino headed in Declan Rice’s free kick to restore the Gunners’ lead just before the break but Mohamed Salah’s 81st-minute equaliser salvaged a point for Liverpool towards the end of a second half they largely dominated.

Liverpool remain in second place, four points clear of Arsenal who sit in third with City ending the weekend top as they seek a fifth consecutive title.

Asked how relevant the points difference was at such an early stage of the season, Arteta said: “You don’t want to be in that position. You want to be five points ahead, but this is where we are. The team is alive, the team wants it. I feel it every single day. The players that cannot play, they are upset that they are not playing.

“The ones getting injured, the ones that are there they are in a good moment. Things will turn up and we are going to be in a better place. But we are certainly there.

“I see the team and I have no doubts. I think I told you three days before that we are going to be flying on Sunday and we started flying and were the better team by far.

“We needed to get the points today to make a reflection of where we are and where we want to be. We couldn’t do it but for sure we are there.”

Arsenal sat deep for long periods of the second half as Liverpool probed for an equaliser. Arteta said that defender Gabriel Magalhães “could not run” and was forced off with an injury to his left leg on 54 minutes, perhaps contributing to a more cautious display given the Gunners were already without suspended centre-back William Saliba.

“It should’ve been a bigger score in the first half, they came out in second half and we didn’t have courage,” added Arteta. “We were clear in what we had to do and the execution, determination and aggression with and without the ball was really good. [There were] a few moments where we should’ve put the ball in the net.

“In the first phase we needed more courage to play. We created big opportunities.”