Arsene Wenger’s side will want to take advantage of Leicester City’s slip up against West Brom and will want to put the losses that they suffered last week behind them as soon as possible, when they face off against Swansea City at the Emirates on Wednesday evening. Arsenal were beaten by both Barcelona and Manchester United in their last two games and will want to bounce back in this fixture at home. It will be third place versus sixteenth place, with a win for the Gunners meaning that they can cut down the lead at the top of the table to just three points. Consistency has been a major problem for the north London side this season, along with a few injuries as well and it will be interesting to see how they recover from these recent defeats.
Here is what the French manager had to say in his pre-match press conference, prior to the clash against the Swans:
“We want to use the criticism as motivation.”
Talking about Alexis Sanchez he said, “He is fighting to come back to his best.”
Further, he stated, “We want to defy the odds that are against us at the moment.”
On if he’s going to get a £75m transfer fund, “If we want to buy at the end of the season, money will be available. At the moment we want to influence our performances and results. The money until the end of the season won’t help us.”
Talking about his opponents, “Swansea want to secure their position in the Premier League so we expect them to fight very hard, be very committed and well organised defensively. They are a good side who find themselves in a position where they certainly did not expect to be at the start of the season. They lost confidence with a bad start and after that, in the Premier League, it’s difficult.”
About the team’s leaders, “In a collective psyche you always think you need a saviour when you have a bad result. We have won big games this season, many big games with exactly the same players. I don’t feel that I lack leaders.”
On who his leaders are, “The team. In every position. The players lead and we try to develop that with our work. Our job is to have a leader in every position.”