Mikel Arteta responds to Arsene Wenger's Arsenal Premier League title prediction

Arsenal royalty Arsene Wenger says the Gunners are back in business as the likeliest bet to topple champions Manchester City.

"Hopefully he is right," pondered Le Professeur's old captain Mikel Arteta. "Just like he has been right on so many occasions. It's great that people who know and love the club so much have such an opinion about us. Now, unfortunately, we have to show that on the pitch."

If Wenger's counsel is to be proved accurate, Arteta will need to turn the tide against rival heavy artillery in the title race. A rare victory against Liverpool at the Emirates on Sunday would not only deliver a virtual knockout blow to the Kop by opening up a yawning 14-point gap between the clubs.

It would also signal a seismic change in Arsenal's whole approach to games where they have too often flinched or blinked first. In fly-on-the-wall documentary All Or Nothing: Arsenal, two league meetings with Liverpool last season betrayed the Gunners' trepidation where conviction was required.

Arteta piped recordings of the Anfield atmosphere through speakers erected around the training ground pitch, to try and prepare his players for the intimidating soundtrack of the Kop in full cry, and they lost 4-0. And before Liverpool's last visit to the Emirates, the Arsenal boss wrote the words 'A Great Night' on his whiteboard before basing his pre-match call to arms on one of his own great nights - pulling his wife in a nightclub. The Gunners lost 2-0.

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But such has been the dramatic shift in balance of power between Merseyside and north London in the last six months that Arteta does not need gimmicks or unorthodox pep-talks to beat Liverpool any more. He may simply have a better team.

Ageing or not, Arteta is wary of writing off Liverpool as title contenders, warning: "As you have seen, there can be a lot of turnovers in this league and I am not making assumptions. To be 14 points clear of Liverpool, we need to beat them, and it will be a difficult thing to do, but we are willing to try.

"The incentive is there, 100 per cent. The moment that you get momentum, you are in a good run and you can leave an opponent as far (behind) as possible, psychologically also it is really important. We have to show against this opponent that we have raised the level and we are ready to compete against them.

"I'm not here to judge where Liverpool are. What they have done in the last five years doesn't need any presentation. It's clear. They have been up there in every single competition for the last five years, so credit to them for what they've done."

Arsenal's outlook has been improved immeasurably by the acquisition of four-time title winners Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City in the summer.

They have brought a winning mentality to the club which should serve them well in big games, and Arteta acknowledged: "Yes, that is the next step, and winning against those teams requires you individually, and as a team, to be at your best as well a level of belief. And we have got players now who have been participating in those matches."

Arteta has never looked more comfortable in his own skin in nearly three years as Arsenal manager, with the Emirates finally a place where visitors fear to tread instead of grazing comfortably.

He added: "I am really happy and proud for the change in dynamic, and how the atmosphere and belief around the club feels at the moment. But I'm also looking ahead at what we want to be and we are not there yet.

"One of the ways you measure success is the atmosphere. OK, you want to win trophies as well. But you need to understand where we are, and how fractured the club and the environment looked at the time, and how it looks right now. If you are able to win with a certain atmosphere and a feeling of belonging and participation, I think it's much better."

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