Every game a cup final from now on, warns Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger admits every game from now until the end of the season must be treated as a cup final if his side is to reel in Antonio Conte’s Chelsea.

Arsenal are eight points adrift of the Blues ahead of tomorrow’s visit to the Emirates by Burnley and Wenger said: “We are in a position where we cannot look around us too much because one team is miles ahead.

“For us, every game is a cup final. Chelsea are ahead and all the rest around us are fighting.

“First of all, it is important to make a distance on the teams around you, take advantage of any points they drop and also try to get closer to Chelsea, because you never know.”

Wenger welcomes back Kieran Gibbs, Hector Bellerin and Francis Coquelin into his squad as the trio have recovered from recent injuries.

But captain Per Mertesacker is still some distance away from a return having not played this season following a serious knee injury in a July friendly against Lens.

Although he has been absent, Arsenal opted to take up an option to extend the 32-year-old’s contract for another year as it was due to expire in the summer.

And FA documents have also confirmed that Arsenal have taken up the one-year extension option on the contract of fellow injured veteran Santi Cazorla.

German World Cup winner Mertesacker has received glowing praise from team-mate Granit Xhaka, even though the pair have not yet had the opportunity to play alongside one another.

“Unfortunately I have not had the chance to train with Per since I arrived here, actually,” Xhaka said.

“Straight away, I noticed his importance in the dressing room because he is a real leader here and hopefully he can get back healthy and we can have him for the second half of the season.”

After Burnley and their FA Cup fourth-round trip to Southampton, Arsenal face Watford in the league.

That is followed by a tough trip to Chelsea, and Switzerland international Xhaka admits the next three Premier League outings could define Arsenal’s season.

“I think firstly it was important to win at Swansea,” he added. “Then we have the two home games coming up against Burnley and Watford.

“To be honest, I see it in the same way as the boss — these next three games could really tell a lot about what direction we are going to go in this season.”