Ahead of tonight’s big match against Chelsea Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said people will continue to doubt his side until they win the Premiership.
The Gunners were knocked off the top of the table at the weekend following Liverpool’s 3-1 win over Cardiff City at Anfield, but can move back into first place tonight should they beat Chelsea at the Emirates.
A loss however would see them slip to fourth in the table behind Liverpool, Chelsea, and Manchester City who beat Fulham 4-2 at Craven Cottage.
When asked if people were right to question the Gunners title bid after their recent 6-3 loss to Manchester City at the Etihad Wenger said: “Yes – we haven’t won the league for a long time, so that is why they question us.
“It is not (about nine seasons) without winning a trophy, it is without winning the Premier League.
“If you win the League Cup, it does not change anything.
“It is the Premier League that is the most important thing, and we haven’t won it for nine years.
“Of course it does not strengthen your belief, because if you win it every year, you go in there and (say) ‘it is just ours’, so it makes the challenge (now) more interesting.”
Wenger added: “At the moment everybody still questions us, even more after our defeat at (Manchester) City.
“But I see the game at City the other way round, that we can have even more belief after the game at City.”
After the match with Chelsea Arsenal plays West Ham and Newcastle before the New Year with Wenger maintaining his team are capable of handling the holiday fixture list.
“It adds pressure, but you cannot play in the Premier League without pressure,” the Gunners boss said.
“There are periods where the pressure is a bit bigger and periods where it is smaller.
“You have to live with that and resist that kind of stress.”
Wenger continued: “People are only keeping in their mind the big matches that we lose, but we have won some big games.
“What is at stake is if you want to win the Premier League, you want to win the big games at home. It is as simple as that.”
