Gunners are ‘more mature’

London – Jorginho (above) believes free-scoring Arsenal are approaching the Premier League title race with more maturity than last season, when they faltered in sight of the finishing line.

Mikel Arteta’s men were top of the table for most of the 2022/23 campaign but Manchester City overtook them in the run-in to secure their third straight title.

Arsenal have hit a purple patch since the turn of the year, winning all seven league games by an aggregate scoreline of 31-3 as they seek to become English champions for the first time since 2004.

The third-placed Gunners hammered bottom club Sheffield United 6-0 on Monday to move just one point behind City and two behind leaders Liverpool, with 11 games to go.

Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool host City on Sunday, a day after Arsenal face struggling Brentford.

“The performance of the squad (was great) and the mentality to start strong and carry on the momentum,” Jorginho said after his side’s dominant performance at Bramall Lane.

“It was really, really good to see a team playing forward and want to keep going.”

Asked what is different about the team this year compared to the one that just fell short last season, the Italy international added: “I think the maturity.

“We are way more mature how we compete and how we manage the games. I think that’s it.”

Arsenal raced out of the blocks, racking up a five-goal lead quicker than any away side in Premier League history – Declan Rice making it 5-0 in the 39th minute.

Ben White’s second-half thunderbolt completed the rout, scoring the club’s 10,000th goal on an evening when they became the first English league side to win three consecutive away games by five or more goals.

“We are pleased that we are doing all this good stuff, but we need to carry on,” Jorginho said.

“Because if we just think ‘Oh yeah, nice, it’s done’... no, we just need to put our head down and keep pushing and keep going.”

England midfielder Rice, in his first season at the Emirates, said it had been “a hell of a comeback since the Christmas period, when we lost two in a row”.

“But it is the Premier League, you need to be on it every single game,” he added. “You can’t have any slip-ups. We are really enjoying and relishing winning football matches.

“I think if you look at the two other teams at the top, they don’t look like they are going to slip up anytime soon.”