Arteta salutes Gunners’ hunger

– Mikel Arteta saluted Arsenal’s relentless drive as the Premier League title chasers crushed Burnley 5-0 to keep the pressure on leaders Liverpool.

Just hours after Liverpool won 4-1 at Brentford, Arteta’s side ran riot at Turf Moor to make it five successive league wins.

The north Londoners are in second place, two points behind Liverpool as they chase a first Premier League crown since 2004.

Arsenal have been in ruthless mood since returning from a winter training camp in Dubai.

They thrashed Crystal Palace 5-0, won 2-1 at Nottingham Forest, beat Liverpool 3-1 and demolished West Ham 6-0 before putting lowly Burnley to the sword.

Martin Odegaard opening the scoring inside four minutes and Bukayo Saka’s (right) brace was complemented by Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz strikes in the latest flexing of Arsenal’s muscle in front of goal.

Arteta was delighted by his players’ hunger as they refused to be sated by their recent dominance.

“Really happy with the performance, with the result and the individual and collective contribution of each player as well. That was very, very good,” he said.

“And the fact that the team looked like they wanted more. They weren’t satisfied.

“They wanted to score more, they didn’t want to concede a goal. I’m really pleased to hit that consistency.”

Asked if Arsenal’s clear superiority over their recent opponents was even more pleasing than their goal spree, Arteta said: “Yeah. We want to dominate games and play in the opponent’s half as much as possible.

“I think the threat, the purpose, the activity and the connections of the players are flowing and they really want it.

Arteta said the rout in Lancashire was ideal preparation for Arsenal’s return to Champions League action in the last-16 first leg at Porto on Wednesday. –