Arsene Wenger has said Chelsea are favourites to win the Premier League title if they continue with their form, with the Arsenal manager admitting there are no serious contenders to challenge Jose Mourinho’s men on the evidence so far. The Frenchman was speaking after a 2-1 defeat at Swansea left his team in sixth place and 12 points behind the leaders after only 11 games.
Wenger blamed the absence of the ‘right attitude’ after Arsenal allowed a second half lead slip for the second time in five days. Alexis Sanchez put them in the lead scoring his 12th goal in 14 appearances, Arsenal conceded twice in three minutes. Gylfi Sigurdsson, with a majestic free-kick, scored the first, and Bafétimbi Gomis, who had been on the pitch only two minutes, got the winner to inflict Arsenal’s second league defeat of the season.
Asked why Chelsea are so dominant while their rivals were struggling to find any sort of momentum, Wenger replied: “There is no obvious reason. They had a good start, and we have gone through that [in the past], as long as you don’t lose, you don’t question yourself, there is a little bit extra spirit in the team that, when it is tight, gets them through.”
Wenger admitted it had been a particularly tough week for his side. “We had a very disappointing week, considering the performances we produced and the end result we got it’s very disappointing. We were 3-0 up against Anderlecht and 1-0 up today and in the end we lose two points against Anderlecht and three points today. I think it’s very disappointing because you have to be capable, once you are 1-0 up and a big team, to win the game.”
Arsenal would have gone into the top four with victory but instead Garry Monk’s side leapfrogged them and climbed to fifth place. “I felt that we allowed them back into the game by losing some challenges in the middle of the park that you cannot afford to lose,” Wenger said.
“It’s unfortunate to lose a game like that but we were not rigorous until the end. We produced quite a decent performance for 75 minutes but you have to last 90 minutes. Did Tuesday night play a part in our mind? I don’t think so. I hope not. And Swansea, you have to give them credit, they didn’t give up, they fought until the end, they scored a good free-kick, and of course that gave them momentum again.
“In the end we lost the three points, that’s very sad, very disappointing, but we have to take it on the chin because we didn’t play for 90 minutes with the right rigorous attitude.”