Arsenal must not let fear of failure creep in during title fight, warns Bergkamp

Dennis Bergkamp warned Arsenal they must not let a fear of failure creep into their game if they want to stay on top of the Premier League.

Arsenal remain in control at the top of the table, holding a six-point lead over Manchester City heading into the latest round of fixtures.

That gap, however, could be cut in half should City beat Fulham on Wednesday, with Arsenal not in action until the following day when they travel to Brentford.

The Gunners have not won the Premier League title since 2003-04, when Bergkamp was part of their Invincibles team, but remain overwhelming favourites to end that wait.

The Opta supercomputer gives them a 90.5% chance of winning the league, and the former Gunners forward does not believe City or Aston Villa – who are nine points behind amid their recent wobble – have enough to maintain a challenge.

“The danger is, of course, that people start to talk about the last few seasons,” Bergkamp said on The Overlap podcast.

“If the players let that come to you, if you are going to mention it yourself, for example, then the players will know.

“I know what Arsene [Wenger] always said: ‘Every game is a final, just focus on the next game’. That is the main thing now.

“I wouldn’t be too worried because I feel the other teams aren’t strong enough at this moment. City may be coming there. I don’t think other teams could catch them because they are going to drop points as well.

“The big games are yet to come. The difficult period is yet to come, so for all the teams, because they are all still in the Champions League and fighting on.

“The only thing I would say is [about] the intensity of the first few months and the excitement. It looks sometimes now like ‘let’s not make a mistake’.

“And in football, if you are at the top, if you want to be a champion, you can’t rely on [that mentality of] ‘let’s not make a mistake’.”

Arsenal have won each of their last two matches in the Premier League against Leeds United and Sunderland, having gone winless in each of their three beforehand.

Mikel Arteta’s side lost their first Premier League away game 2-0 against Brentford, but have since won their last three by an aggregate score of 7-1.