Granit Xhaka of Bayer Leverkusen has delivered an honest verdict on the 2023/2024 English Premier League title race.
Granit Xhaka, midfielder for Bayer Leverkusen, remains optimistic about Arsenal’s chances of winning the Premier League title.
The 31-year-old Bayer Leverkusen midfielder remains confident that his former club Arsenal still have the chance of winning the League title this season.
The Gunners are currently in second position, chasing Manchester City by two points with five matches remaining.
However, former Arsenal captain Xhaka has expressed a message of encouragement to his former teammates as they aim to break 20 years jinx.
All season long, Arsenal have been involved in a tight Premier League title battle against Liverpool and Manchester City and as the League enters the last five matchdays of the interesting season, the former Gunners captain has sent a message to the young Arsenal squad.
Speaking to the media, the former Gunners said; “This is part of the game, I think it was 10 or 11 games unbeaten. When you lose one game, it doesn’t mean you lost everything already.
“There are six games left in the Premier League and there is still a big chance to get the Premier League title. I wish them all the best for sure because I am still in contact with the staff and players and also still watching the games.”
Xhaka was asked if Arsenal could still win the League title, and he answered; “I hope so because the team, the staff, and the football club as well deserve to win trophies. They are very close this year as well like it was last year but football is about small details. I hope they can do it.”
Arsenal were then dumped out of the Champions League following a 1-0 defeat to Bayern Munich on Wednesday night.
The Gunners have the chance to regain the top place in the Premier League with a win away to Wolves on Saturday, April 20, and Xhaka is adamant that his former club should not give up after their two setbacks.
Arsenal led by Mikel Arteta had seen a defeat at the hand of Aston Villa on Sunday, April 14, in the League before they crashed out of the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday, April 17.
During his stint with Arsenal, Granit Xhaka was a key part of the Gunners side, winning several trophies including the FA Cup and Community Shield twice.
The 31-year-old joined the Gunners from Borussia M’gladbach in 2016 and spent seven years with the Emirates outfit before he left in 2023 on the back of 225 appearances.
Xhaka made his move to Bayer Leverkusen last summer for £21.4 million after the Gunners’ heartbreaking title loss to Manchester City after having led the League for the major part of the season.
This season, he won the Bundesliga unbeaten with Leverkusen led by Xabi Alonso as they beat Bayern Munich to the title for the first time since 2012/13.
Meanwhile, Xhaka took a step closer to completing a treble with Bayer Leverkusen on Thursday night, April 18, after his side knocked West Ham out of the Europa League, which now sets up a semi-final tie against Roma.
The 1-1 draw against West Ham has extended Bayer Leverkusen’s run to 44 games unbeaten in all competitions – a new record set by a club in Europe’s top five leagues.
The Switzerland International was asked about his side’s unbeaten run and Xhaka says Leverkusen are willing to finish the season without a defeat.
Xhaka said; “If you’re so close you want to try it, for sure.”
“We know to win the Europa League you have to be unbeaten so we need to keep it.”
“We won the league on Sunday, April 14, but we still have the hunger to achieve something else, something more special than the championship.”
He added; “Five games to go, Sunday in Dortmund we have to keep going, keep the belief, keep working like we’re doing at the moment, and let’s see what happens at the end of the season.”
What’s next for Arsenal?
The Gunners will take on Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday, April 20 as they look to reduce the gap between themselves and Manchester City who have a two-point atop the table.
