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Wenger - Get ready for a 'tight fight'

Arsène Wenger
Arsène Wenger

Arsène Wenger is expecting a “tight fight” for a place in the top four.

The manager saw his Arsenal side close the gap on the teams directly above them in the Premier League table with a narrow 2-1 win over Aston Villa on Saturday.

The victory put them two points behind Chelsea and one away from fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur.

The Stamford Bridge outfit did not move forward as they were beaten 2-0 at Manchester City on Sunday. Meanwhile Andre Villas-Boas takes his team to West Ham United on Monday night.

In addition, Everton’s defeat at Norwich sees them now five points behind Arsenal in sixth.

Speaking directly after the Villa game, Wenger predicted the result at the Eithad Stadium and went on to suggest that his ambitions were greater than just securing fourth spot.

“I'm not sure the other places are not reachable,” said Wenger. “Chelsea are only two points ahead and go to Man City. I'm not sure it will only be a fight with Tottenham. It could be a tight fight until the end.

“We are ready for that. We are ready to fight for the football we love to play. You could see that against Aston Villa.

“We continued to play until the last second of the game and we will continue to do that until the end of the season. Recently in the Premier League we have not conceded too many. But I think we have to improve a little bit the number of goals we are scoring because in recent games we created a lot of chances but didn't take advantage.”

The result was a pleasing end to a disappointing week that saw defeats to Blackburn Rovers and Bayern Munich at the Emirates.

"Right now, confidence is our best friend and a lack of confidence is our worst enemy,” admitted Wenger. “Both of them are very fragile.

"We were nervous [against Villa] because we had absolutely to win. We had hit twice the wall in one week.

“When you drive in a car and you have an accident at 100 miles an hour. You say 'ok, we go again.'

“If you hit it again three days later. You will then drive a little bit more cautiously. That's exactly how it was.”

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