Bacary Sagna believes Arsenal can challenge for the Premier League title this season, but only if they can maintain a level of consistency which has deserted the Gunners (6/1 Outright Premier League Winners) in recent seasons.
The north London club have yet to win any silverware since their FA Cup success over Manchester United in 2005, failing to capitalise on a number of golden opportunities since that time.
Last year Arsenal finished 11 points off eventually winners Chelsea but at times looked as though they would challenge for the title, even topping the league in February.
However, once again the Gunners form dipped coming into the run-in and back-to-back defeats to Manchester United and Chelsea eventually cost them.
While Arsenal fans having been calling on manager Arsene Wenger to improve his side’s strength in depth in a bid to compete on the domestic and European fronts, so far the Frenchman has only brought in two new players.
With the Gunners (4/7 to finish in the top four) having lost three centre-halfs during the summer, with just one coming in, there might a number of Arsenal fans worried that problems at the back could cost them dear again.
Those doubters wouldn’t have been impressed in the club’s 6-5 friendly win over Legia Warsaw, a game which saw a near full strength side concede a number of goals from set pieces.
However, despite signs that Arsenal’s defensive frailties have yet to be dealt with Sagna is confident he and his team mates will be serious title contenders this season.
“Yes we can win it. I’m 100 per cent confident,” declared the Frenchman.
“It will be down to us now. We have a good team and some new players. We have an amazing team and play good football. We just need to be more consistent and to be a bit more focused on the pitch.”
The full-back went on to say that while he expected Manchester City (5/1 Outright Winners) to join the likes of Chelsea (13/8), Manchester United (12/5) and Liverpool (12/1) in challenging for the title, he feels that they cannot count on their spending power equalling success.
“They have bought a lot of good players and they will be hard to beat but we are still Arsenal, we play good football and just want to continue to play as we are now,” he added.
“Real Madrid [also spent money on] lots of good players but they couldn?t win anything last year so it’s down to the game we play on the pitch.”
Arsenal will be hopeful their youthful looking squad can finally do the business this season, especially after Cesc Fabregas’ decision to stay on for at least another season.
However, the Gunners could be without their captain, along with striker Robin van Persie, for the first game of the season as they head to Anfield looking to record a fourth straight victory over Liverpool (5/4 to beat the Gunners) in all competitions.
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