Arteta names Arsenal themselves as biggest Premier League title threat this season

Mikel Arteta has identified Arsenal as their own biggest rival in the Premier League this season, insisting the Gunners’ ability to improve from within will determine whether they retain the title they won for the first time in 22 years last term.

When asked directly to name his team’s most dangerous challenger, Arteta told Men in Blazers: “Ourselves. I think, when I see the margins that we have to improve and be better, it’s on us. That’s how we prepare and evolve our club, our team, our squad. Looking after the things that we control and we want to do.”

Arsenal claimed last season’s title by seven points and underlined their ambitions early this campaign with a 3-0 victory over Manchester City in the Community Shield. Arteta has since strengthened his squad with the additions of Bruno Guimarães and Christos Tzolis, and the club are closing in on a deal for Aston Villa defender Ezri Konsa.

The Gunners also enter the new season with a managerial stability their rivals cannot match. Manchester City have replaced Pep Guardiola with Enzo Maresca, Liverpool are under new boss Andoni Iraola, Xabi Alonso has taken charge at Chelsea, and Michael Carrick was confirmed as permanent Manchester United manager towards the end of last season. Arsenal open their top-flight campaign against Coventry City on Friday.

On the subject of turning that stability into an advantage, Arteta was measured: “I think we have to create the opportunity, not what happens around us. The opportunity has to be created with what we do daily, to earn the right to be better than the rest.”

Successfully defending the title would be a feat Arsenal have not achieved since 1935 — nearly a century ago. Adding a personal dimension to the campaign, Arteta will be going head-to-head with two of his childhood friends: Iraola, who earned the Liverpool job after his work at Bournemouth, and Alonso, who won trophies with Bayer Leverkusen and managed Real Madrid before taking the Chelsea role this summer.

“The three of us used to play together, so it’s something phenomenal,” Arteta said of the reunion at the top of English football.