Arsenal believe they can win Premier League, says Ozil

Arsene Wenger’s side have not won the title since 2004, but their impressive form has had many believing this could be their year.

The Gunners cemented their place in second with Monday night’s 2-1 victory over Manchester City and now just lie two points behind surprise leaders Leicester going into their Boxing Day clash with Southampton at St Mary’s. The home side enjoyed only 37% of possession but eventually secured three crucial points in their battle for the Premier League thanks to first-half goals from Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud.

“Ozil had a chest infection this weekend and he was in bed, basically”, Wenger said. “He had only one training session yesterday”. Teams are better organised, better prepared physical, in the last 20 minutes.

The loss at the Emirates Stadium has left City, who are third in the table, playing catch up as they are four points behind Arsenal and six adrift table toppers Leicester City after 17 games. That gives you a better chance but it’s too early to say who will win.

But Mertesacker (below) said: “We haven’t proven anything yet and we haven’t been that consistent that we can talk about it [being champions] – that is my opinion”.

Big-money summer signing Kevin de Bruyne summed up their evening in north London as he kicked the corner flag when trying to take a short corner, before missing the target just moments before Walcott’s opener.

“The thing about Mesut is that he sees things that most players don’t even see on the pitch”.

Arsenal played a more cagey, containing game for large parts of the match against City, in contrasting to their more ususal flowing attacking style – and it paid off.

And while club and worldwide teammate Mertesacker insists that this side can mix and match their style of play, they still need to add a bit of consistency if they are to be taken as genuine title challengers. “When you look at this and the guys that see, make you win and he is that”.

“It is going to be hard and we need to stay concentrated, the Christmas period is the most important now and we are sliding into it and it is up to us to keep that consistency”.

Ozil, however, downplayed his role in the team’s display.