William Saliba is confident Arsenal have the quality within the squad to win all competitions this season as he eyes a historic quadruple goal with the Gunners.
Arsenal top the Premier League and Champions League tables, while they also sealed their place in the EFL Cup semi-finals with a victory over Crystal Palace on penalties.
Since joining the club in 2019, Mikel Arteta has guided Arsenal to the FA Cup five years ago, while also triumphing in two Community Shield finals against Liverpool and Manchester City respectively.
Arsenal lead the Premier League for the fifth time at Christmas, although they have never won the league from that position. Two of those have been under Arteta, and no manager has ever been top three as of December 25 and never lifted the title.
But when asked whether he had thought about winning multiple pots this season, with Arsenal still battling on four fronts, Saliba replied: ‘Yes, of course.
“We know we can win in every competition we play.
“We have been close to the Premier League in the last three seasons and last season we were in the semi-finals of the Champions League and the Carabao Cup, so we know we can win any competition.
“But we have to show that on the pitch, and we have to start winning trophies now.
“We are in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, so there are three games left in front of us, and we have to get the job done against Chelsea in January.
“It will be a big game, a big derby, so we have to keep going. We know we are close and we have to learn the lessons from last season.”
“At the end of your career we count our trophies, and the Carabao Cup is one of them – and now we are in the semi-finals and of course we want to win this competition, like every competition we play.”
Arsenal are expected to end their wait for a first Premier League title since 2003-04, at least according to supercomputer Opta, which predicted the Gunners would finish top of the table in 68.5% of season simulations.
Arteta’s side face Brighton at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, a team they have won just three of their eight Premier League home games against (38%, D2 L3), while they only have a lower winning percentage against Wimbledon (25%) and Liverpool (36%) among teams they have faced five or more times.
With games to round out the calendar year against the Seagulls and Aston Villa, who sit just three points off the top, Arsenal will play nine games in January.
“The mood is good, but we know that we are still in December and things can happen quickly in football,” Saliba added.
“We have to stay focused and keep believing in ourselves and keep working because what matters is that we get the trophies at the end and not before.
“If we have a lot of games it means we are doing a good job, so we have to keep going and hopefully the players who are injured will be back in January to help us.”
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