Wenger still believes he can do the double

ARSENE WENGER has set his Arsenal squad two targets for the rest of the season: catch Chelsea in the Premier League and deliver him the Europa League trophy.

According to Granit Xhaka, they can do both, with Chelsea appearing vulnerable under Antonio Conte and the Gunners with one foot in the semi-finals of the European competition.

Arsenal are full of confidence after hammering CSKA Moscow 4-1 in their quarter-final first leg in midweek courtesy of inspired performances from Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey.

They currently trail Chelsea by five points but tackle a struggling Southampton side at the Emirates Stadium today and feel their London rivals are well within reach.

‘We are so far off fourth but not so far off fifth. To Chelsea, it is only five points,’ Xhaka said.

‘We know we can win the Europa League. There are a lot of teams that are good, like Atletico Madrid, like Lazio, but if we can win the Europa League and get into the Champions League then it is more important for us.’

If Arsenal play like they did against CSKA on Thursday, then Southampton will stand little chance today. Mark Hughes’ side are in the bottom three and fighting for their Premier League lives. Wenger is surprised to see how the Saints are struggling but suspects they hurt themselves by selling so many players, including Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Virgil van Dijk that any coach would ‘fall on his knees’ to manage.

‘You have to think they were in League One not so long ago,’ Wenger said. ‘When you think back to the quality of the players that they had, it is quite impressive.’

Ramsey scored twice on Thursday night, including one via a fantastic acrobatic flick that looped over the head of the CSKA goalkeeper. The Welshman’s situation is unclear with his £110,000-a-week contract expiring at the end of next season.

Arsenal are desperate to avoid a similar situation to the one that saw Alexis Sanchez sign for Manchester United but Wenger feels there is plenty of time left to come to an agreement.

‘Sanchez was at the end of his contract, [Ramsey] has a year and four months left,’ he insisted.