Saka: 'Nobody thinks Arsenal top the table'

"The seven-point gap is amazing. If you say this at the beginning of the season, we'll bite your arm off," Saka half-jokingly said after the 4-2 victory over Brighton in the 18th round of the Premier League on the evening of December 31. . "I'm really pleased with Arsenal's performance in the first half of the season, and want to thank all of my teammates. It's been a great journey so far, and we need to continue that in the new year." .

Yesterday, Saka took just 66 seconds to hit Brighton and score his sixth in the Premier League this season. This was Arsenal's earliest goal away from home in the Premier League since May 2013, when Theo Walcott opened fire just 20 seconds into the QPR net.

Then, Martin Odegaard, Ed Nketiah and Gabriel Martinelli each scored to help Arsenal lead 4-1 after 71 minutes. In the remaining minutes, Arsenal only let the host remove a goal thanks to Evan Ferguson, thereby winning the first match at The Amex since 2017. This result helps the "Gunners" firmly lead the table with 43 points, more than Man City - the team was held back by Everton in the early game - seven points.

Saka revealed that Arsenal decided to pre-empt Brighton to find an early goal to create psychological momentum. He also admitted stress when Mitoma Kaoru hit Arsenal in the 89th minute, and breathed a sigh of relief when the goal was disallowed for offside. "The match is like a roller coaster ride," commented Saka. "Arsenal is not easy to show the style of play that we want here. So we are proud of today's performance, especially in the first half."

In the history of the top English league, Arsenal is the fifth team to reach 43 points in the first 16 matches, after Tottenham (season 1960-1961), Chelsea (2005-2006), Man City (2017-2018) and Liverpool ( 2019-2020). The previous times, all four teams went straight to the championship. The only top team to maintain a seven-point gap with the second-place team at the end of the year who could not win the Premier League at the end of the season was Liverpool in the 2018-2019 season. At that time, the army under Jurgen Klopp was out of breath in the second phase and was surpassed by Man City in the championship race.

Saka admits Arsenal are in a great position in the title race, but is currently only focused on the next match against Newcastle on January 3. The 21-year-old midfielder evaluates Newcastle - the team currently ranked third, above Man Utd, Liverpool, Chelsea - is in very high form.

The Arsenal winger also thanked the fans for coming to the stadium to cheer on the club, instead of staying at home and enjoying the moment with family on the last evening of 2022. "They may not be home before the year. new, and that shows how much Arsenal means to them, and also to us," emphasized Saka.

Meanwhile, captain Martin Odegaard said Arsenal are not interested in the results of Man City, and are only focused on the goal of winning Brighton. The Norwegian midfielder was not happy when Arsenal let Brighton pressure at times, and wanted the whole team to control the game better.