4 weeks ago
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Arsenal welcome Liverpool to the Emirates Stadium on Thursday night as they look to extend the gap between themselves and the reigning Premier League champions.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has conceded his side are not currently in the Premier League title race with Arsenal, with the champions instead focusing on finishing in the Champions League positions.
Mikel Arteta's side sit at the top of the Premier League table, and they received another boost to their title hopes on Wednesday night, with both Manchester City and Aston Villa dropping points. It means that the Gunners could extend their lead at the top of the table to eight points should they win their game-in-hand.
That meeting takes place tonight (Thursday) when they take on the reigning champions, Liverpool, at the Emirates Stadium (8pm).
After winning the title last season, Liverpool have had a difficult first half of the campaign. Should Arsenal win the game tonight, it will increase the gap between the two teams to 17 points.
While he has stopped short of completely writing his squad off - speaking to Sky Sports - Slot has admitted that a title challenge is unlikely:
"It's never nice to say that a title race is gone because you never know what can happen in football, but there are a lot of clubs in between us and the number one," he said. "Two other clubs, Villa and also City, I think at this moment in time we're 14 points behind Arsenal.
"So the last thing we should talk about at this moment in time is the title race. Our first focus now is on top four, top five finish to qualify for the Champions League and all of the other things we can still play for, the Champions League, the FA Cup.
"If something happens that no one would expect and probably never has happened before, then we try to make sure, or we make sure that we are ready for that."
It is Arsenal - in fact - who hold the record for the biggest points overhaul to win the title. In December 1997, the Gunners found themselves 13 points behind leaders Manchester United.
However, a sensational winning run saw them close that gap to snatch the title in May 1998. Should Liverpool do something similar, they will have to go one better given the current points gap between the two sides.
Following the game against the Reds, Arsenal have a break from Premier League action when they travel to take on Championship side Portsmouth in the third round of the FA Cup on Sunday (2pm).
They then take on Chelsea (A) in the first leg of the semi-final of the Carabao Cup next Wednesday night.
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