Mikel Arteta urges Arsenal to ‘keep calm’ in battle for Premier League title

Mikel Arteta has urged his team not to listen to their critics (Mike Egerton/PA)

Mikel Arteta has told his players to keep calm and carry on amid the increasing pressure of landing Arsenal’s first Premier League title in 22 years.

Arsenal blew a two-goal lead at bottom-of-the-table Wolves on Wednesday night to hand the initiative to rivals Manchester City.

Indeed, if Pep Guardiola’s side win all their remaining 12 matches – which includes a pivotal contest against Arsenal at the Etihad in April – they will be crowned champions.

Arsenal let slip a two-goal lead in midweek (Nick Potts/PA)

Despite dropping two points at Molineux, Arteta’s title-chasing side are still five clear at the top, albeit having played a game more than City.

But Arsenal are carrying the scars of finishing runners-up for the past three seasons. And following their 2-2 draw – which leaves them with just two wins in their last seven league games – the club are facing fresh accusations of being bottlers.

But addressing those claims, Arteta, speaking ahead of his side’s trip to Tottenham on Sunday, said: “The media reaction is tough. Everybody has their own opinion and their perspective is the right one.

“If we all have an individual book, I don’t know what your book would say and what you had predicted three, five, seven, eight months ago? It would be very interesting to go through and understand what you predicted and how you saw the season going.

“We have a very clear instruction. We have to live in the present and the present is beautiful.

“We are exactly where we want to be in every competition. So, keeping calm, keeping my eyes open, my ears open, and understanding what the players need to give their best.

“What I read is the press conference by (Wolves manager) Rob (Edwards) before the game, and what he said when he texted me. He thinks that we are the best team in the league by far.”

What to watch out for this weekend, including whether @Arsenal can bounce back in the north London derby 👀

— Premier League (@premierleague) February 20, 2026

Arsenal are through to the final of next month’s Carabao Cup and in the knockout stages of the Champions League having won all eight of their group matches too. They also look set to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a fifth-round tie at Mansfield to come in March.

And Arteta added: “What I’ve seen (from the players) is a tremendous reaction. And I’m not surprised at all.

“When you lose points in the last kick of the game in a very unpredictable manner, because to predict a team with a 0.02 XG is going to score, nobody can really understand that. But this is football, that’s the beauty of it. The instant reaction is pain, it was a shock to the system, and after that it’s: ‘Okay, what can I do about it?’

“That was chapter 27. And what I’m very interested in is the next chapter, what we are made of, and how we write our own destiny from here going forward.”

Martin Odegaard and Kai Havertz were absent through injury at Molineux, but both have an outside chance of facing Igor Tudor’s Spurs at the Tottenham Stadium.

“We have to wait until tomorrow but there is a big possibility that they are available,” concluded Arteta.