'This journey is going to be difficult and challenging': Mikel Arteta on Arsenal's title ambitions

Speaking to the media about the Everton defeat, Mikel Arteta said: "I don't think the players are feeling the pressure, we've played a lot of games this season like that already. But credit to them, this is what they train every single day.

"You have to defend really well to get your control and earn the right to play. For moments we did it and in other moments we didn't do it well enough. In the last 10 or 15 minutes, we started to make a lot of rash decisions.

"I really want the team to know how much I love them. I love them much more now than three hours ago, a week ago, a month ago, three months ago. It's very easy to be next to the players when they're winning and performing.

"These are the moments when I love my players more and my staff more and we're going to stay together. This journey is going to be difficult and challenging and there's going to be big stones in the middle and we have to overcome that."

Arsenal suffered their second defeat of the 2022/23 Premier League season, losing 1–0 against Sean Dyche's Everton away from home on Saturday.

However, with Manchester City suffering a 1–0 defeat away at Tottenham the following day, the Gunners' are still five points above Pep Guardiola's side.