Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta faces a challenge that dwarfs the club’s rise to the top of the Premier League table in the run-up to the World Cup: how to maintain the impossible streak? The Gunners hope to pick up their league season where they left off six weeks ago when they welcome West Ham in the final game on Boxing Day, which concludes a seven-game schedule on Monday. Arsenal was the best team in the Premier League in the first half of the season and have a five-point lead over Manchester City, but they will have a tough task without talisman Gabriel Jesus, who is recovering from a knee injury. , Playing for Brazil in Qatar. ( Premier League Leaders Arsenal Take On West Ham In Resumption Of EPL) In contrast, 16th-placed West Ham has barely managed to stay out of the relegation zone after a slow start including four wins in the team’s first 15 games, but Arteta is not taking the Hammers lightly. “We need to do this on the field. We’ve talked about it a lot. We know the importance of strong starts and we play at home”, Arteta said. “It’s a very special day in the history of the Premier League, it’s a very special family day to play football, it’s the day It’s a wonderful environment and we want to make the most of it.”
He also praised his youth team’s consistency in the first 14 games of the season, a stretch that included wins over rivals Liverpool, Tottenham, and Chelsea. However, tough tests lie ahead. “Maybe the level that we show and the consistency that we show within that level, which is not easy with the group and the age,” Arteta said. “We show real maturity at certain times, especially against bigger opponents.”The focus is to play better every day, continue to grow individually and collectively, and be able to win games. That’s all we can hope for because football is a very complicated game.”
While Arsenal do not resume their Europa League campaign until March, the FA Cup kicks off in January and Arteta knows rotation will be important, especially after his team’s participation in the World Cup in Qatar. The Gunners are set to play six games over the next 28 days and have an equally busy schedule in February. “There will be times where you will have time to train and other times where matches will come fast and you will have very congested periods,” Arteta said. “It will be very important how healthy the squad is, how fit they are and how much rotation can help us maintain the level we want.”. (Premier League Leaders Arsenal Take On West Ham In Resumption Of EPL)
In the first match of the day, Tottenham travels through London to take on Brentford at lunchtime, with Spurs manager Antonio Conte insisting the league resumes immediately after the World Cup final. The Premier League restarted just eight days after Spurs pair Hugo Lloris and Christian Romero met in Qatar for the World Cup. While Conte has already confirmed the World Cup finalists will not play on Monday, the Italian has Croatian Ivan Perisic as well as the trio of English pair Harry Kane and Eric Dyer to decide in the last eight. “It’s a strange situation and to be honest, playing so fast, just a week after the World Cup, I’m not really happy,” he said. “On the one hand, you are happy because for my club, Tottenham, having 12 players in the World Cup means we are on the right track to try to be competitive and try to win something in the future.” That’s when you have so many players playing a tournament like this, especially during the season, that it’s not easy now because the physical conditions aren’t the best.” Crystal Palace host Fulham for the rest of the day’s matches. In another London derby, Everton hosts Wolves, Newcastle visits Leicester, Brighton visit south coast rivals Southampton, and Liverpool head to Aston Villa.
