Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger claims that his side can still win the Premiership by catching league leaders Chelsea just like they did to Manchester United in 1998.
The French manager is in top form after having virtually a completely fit squad and capturing defender Gabriel Paulista from Villarreal.
And despite catching Chelsea seeming like a dream, history is on the side of Wenger when seventeen years ago the Gunners were 13 points behind Manchester United at Christmas only to come back and win the title.
Confidence is running high at the Emirates following the win over Manchester City, and when asked if Arsenal could be title contenders Wenger said: “We can. It is our target.
“We have to be realistic, but you never know.
“A few mistakes and the picture changes. What we want is to win every game. We can at the moment.
“Chelsea are 13 points ahead. It could be more by the end of the weekend and they need to lose five games while they have lost only two until now.
“What we want to do is focus on our performances and show that we can produce consistent results. That’s what we want to do.”
Wenger is so confident of the squad he has now, he allowed Yaya Sanogo, Lukas Podolski and Joel Campbell to go out of loan.
“I still have a selection dilemma,” said Wenger. “We’ve got three players out on loan so you imagine the number of players we have.
“We have a good squad, compact, but of quality. With the competition it will be very hard to choose between them.”
He remains confident that Giroud can continue his goal scoring against Aston Villa, and says he never once thought about selling the French international.
“Olivier is doing very well at the moment,” said Wenger. “He had a good game at Manchester City and an acceptable one at Brighton.
“There was never a time when I thought his future might be elsewhere. No, never, because always he’s a player who gives you different options in the game.
“In some games you can play Alexis Sanchez or Danny Welbeck up front, but Olivier, his specific qualities, are always interesting, he always gives you that.”
Wenger admits he cannot wait to see his new signing Gabriel play, as he is a big fan of what Brazilians bring to the game.
He added: “We have had Gilberto Silva from there, we were lucky also having Edu and Sylvinho from the same place.
“They are top-level class people with the hunger and love for football. In their country it is a religion.
“Sao Paulo is a bit like London, you have many clubs and every game is a fight.
