Arsenal must 'flip coin' in EPL title race: Arteta

Liverpool's Slot says Man Utd 'much better' than league table shows

LONDON/LIVERPOOL:

Mikel Arteta says Arsenal must "flip that coin" as they hunt down Premier League leaders Liverpool in a quest to be crowned champions of England after two agonising near-misses.

The second-placed Gunners, runners-up to Manchester City over the past two seasons, are six points behind Arne Slot's rampaging Liverpool, who have a game in hand, having played half their league fixtures.

Stumbles in October and early November left Arsenal playing catch-up and Arteta on Friday pleaded for consistency from his men, who travel to face mid-table Brighton on Saturday.

"We have to show the same level of consistency and a bit more, because the last year we have been the best team in the league, broken various records and still haven't won a major trophy, so something is missing," said the Spaniard.

"It's going to be very thin, small details, you can pick up certain games and situations. But at the end, we're so close and we just have to flip that coin to the other side to make it happen.

"That's only going to happen if we do what we have to do and what we can control. The rest is out of our hands."

Arsenal are bidding to win their first Premier League title since 2004 but are set to be without Bukayo Saka until March after the England winger suffered a hamstring injury against Crystal Palace last month.

"There's not one player that's going to play nine games in a row in that position, it's impossible," said Arteta.

He added: "We need more threat, we need more players fit and rotation in that unit. In relation to that, we will make decisions and as well, players' performances, that's simple."

The Arsenal boss said he was unsure whether the club would strengthen in the January transfer window.

"The focus is on the players that we have," he said. "When something is in the market that we can afford and believe is going to have a real impact on the team, we have to be open to that possibility.

"We have the ability to change the squad in the windows, but at the moment the focus is on what we have."

Manchester United vs Liverpool clash

Meanwhile, Arne Slot says crisis-hit Manchester United are "much, much better" than their shocking position in the Premier League suggests as he prepares his Liverpool team for a clash against their fierce rivals on Sunday.

Liverpool are six points clear at the top of the Premier League table -- and are hot favourites to land a 20th English top-flight crown, which would pull them level with record-holders United.

United, by contrast, are 14th in the table after five defeats in their past six league games under new manager Ruben Amorim.

But Slot, also in his first campaign in England, is adamant he will not take his opponents lightly at Anfield, when asked if he might rest players at Friday's pre-match press conference.

"No, of course I'm not going to plan to rest any player because it's a big game and I think it's for me I said it before the first fixture (a 3-0 win at Old Trafford) and I can say it one more time, that they have much better players in my opinion than maybe the league table shows at the moment.

"I think it's going to take a while maybe for Ruben Amorim to bring this out of the players... but they will definitely go up and they are much, much, much better than the league table shows at the moment."

The Dutchman said he had sympathy with his rival in the Old Trafford hot seat, who joined United from Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon in November.

"I think every manager sympathises with every other manager, because we all know how much pressure this job brings," said Slot.

"That's not different for him than for me, or for any other manager that works in the Premier League, or somewhere else around the world."

Slot was asked whether he could categorically state that Liverpool would not let Trent Alexander-Arnold leave in the January transfer window, with the defender heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid.