The only way to silence Arsenal's doubters is to deliver in the big games, according to Olivier Giroud.
The France international and his team-mates head to Merseyside on Friday ahead of a vital clash with Liverpool on Saturday lunchtime. Arsenal go into the game two points clear of Manchester City and Chelsea - but they remain third favourites to win the title.
"Maybe we are not favourites for the title but we have been first still for a long time and it's the 25th game [coming up]," responded Giroud.
"We didn't let Liverpool play [at Emirates Stadium in November], we kept them under pressure and closed them down"
"We have to show people that we want to answer [our critics] on the pitch and nothing more. That is the most important [thing] for us, is the reality of the pitch. After that, if people don't think we can finish first it is not my problem, but I know we have a good chance to win the league."
Arsenal produced one of their most stirring performances of the season when they beat Liverpool 2-0 at Emirates Stadium in November, and Giroud wants a repeat on Saturday.
"Yes, it was one of our best [displays] because we played really well and we didn't let them play their game," he said.
"After the game some people could have said Liverpool didn't play their game but it was because of our pressure. We didn't let them play, we kept them under pressure and closed them down. That's why we didn't see a lot of Suarez and Sturridge.
"We kept another clean sheet so that's what we need on Saturday."
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
