Mikel Arteta names points total Arsenal may need to beat Liverpool and Man City to the Premier League title

Mikel Arteta has insisted that Arsenal will have to raise their standards again if they’re to end their lengthy wait to win the Premier League title.

The Gunners have finished runners-up in the past two seasons to Manchester City - with Liverpool behind both in 2023-24 after falling away in the race late on. Arsenal are again expected to be City’s closest challengers, while new Reds head coach Arne Slot has insisted he’s inherited a squad from Jurgen Klopp that is capable of competing for the silverware.

Arteta’s side are one of several Premier League teams in the USA for pre-season. They face Manchester United tomorrow (01.00 BST) and then play Liverpool in Philadelphia on Thursday (00.30 BST).

Arteta, speaking at a press conference, was asked if it is getting harder to get across his message to his Arsenal squad, having played bridesmaid for the past two years. He replied: "The message is clear – we need more from everybody. More from everybody including me. I need to raise the standards, I need to bring something I haven’t brought yet. Individually and collectively the same. The more we do that, the better the chance it’s going to be to win the Premier League. This is what we want basically. Just work every day with that excitement and understanding of the difficulty. And when those difficulties come, stay together and go through them efficiently."

Then asked how many points Arsenal might need to claim a maiden title in 21 years, he quipped:"One-hundred-and-fourteen points! If we do that, we win the league for sure. This is the objective, from there we’ll see what we get. Earn the right to win it and have the biggest probability over the opponent. When we have difficulties that we are still better than the opponents. That’s really the objective."