Arsene Wenger believes there is all still to play for in the race for fourth place and refused to rule out the possibility of Arsenal mounting a late charge.
Manchester United’s victory at Stamford Bridge on Monday appeared to blow the race for Champions League qualification wide open, but Chelsea responded brilliantly to that setback on Saturday by beating Spurs 2-1 in a typically heated London derby.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have displayed signs of life under Arteta following his appointment in December but genuine progress up the league table has been halted by a succession of frustrating draws.
Arteta celebrated only his second Premier League win in charge last Sunday as Arsenal blew Newcastle away following a devastating second half display.
Manchester City’s impending ban means fifth place could yet be enough to guarantee a return to Champions League football, but Wenger believes that with 11 games to go there is still enough time for his old club to make up the ground on Chelsea.
Wenger won’t rule Arsenal out of finishing in the top 4 this season!#beINPL #ARSEVE pic.twitter.com/fq0UBspslV
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He told beIN Sports: ‘They’ve all got a chance because it looks like the top three teams have moved away from the rest of the league.
‘And the rest of the teams, the bottom of the league have moved up. The top six have dropped their level.
‘The problem is after Sunday it is 27 games and 33 points to go for. If you win you go up to 37 points and if you can make another 22 or 25 points you have a chance.’
Everton are the visitors to the Emirates on Sunday and are now managed by Carlo Ancelotti who was briefly linked with Wenger’s old job following the sacking of Unai Emery.
The former Chelsea and Bayern Munich boss has masterminded an upturn in fortunes of his own at Goodison Park but has kept a keen eye on Arteta and has been impressed by what he has seen from Pep Guardiola’s former assistant.
‘I prefer to have knowledge instead of [just] experience. It is more important to have knowledge and the fact that Arteta did his study with a fantastic manager like Guardiola, I think he has a lot of knowledge.
‘The only thing that you miss is experience. I think that he has a lot of respect from the players for what he did as a player.
‘When you start you don’t have experience but everyone in the world that starts has no experience. Experience is not so important. Every one of us has experience of what we are doing. Experience is natural.’
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