"We should win it, but we don’t' - Mikel Arteta names the match that cost Arsenal the Premier League title

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has pointed out the one game that cost them the 2023-24 Premier League title against Manchester City. The Gunners fell short by just two points as the Cityzens notched up a fourth consecutive league title.

In a recent interview with ESPN, Arteta opened up on a variety of topics, including last season's Premier League title race. He thought their 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa in April ultimately decided their fate as they fell two points behind Pep Guardiola's men with six games left in the season.

He also felt that their inefficiency in front of the goal cost them the game, saying:

"The small margins, we have the game against Villa and when you look at the expected goals of what we generate just throughout the game, we should win it, but we don't.

"So efficiency in the box was a dictator of success when we are so dominant like we are right now in many games. You have decisions as well. They are not in your hands and they can take a point or two points or three points away from you and that can decide the title.

"At the end, we are going to have to be that good that our worst version is going to have to be much better than the best version of the opponent. This is what we are going to try to do and in order to do that we are going to have to dominate a lot of things that are going to be difficult to identify with your eyes when you watch a football match. I'll leave it there."

This was the second consecutive season that Arsenal finished second in the league behind Manchester City. The Gunners led the 2022-23 league table for over 200 days but ultimately fell five points short of City in the title race.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta eager to build on last two seasons

During the same interview, the Arsenal boss was asked if he had left the season behind and started preparing for the upcoming term. The Spanish tactician was instead pleased with the club's progress over the last few seasons, saying:

"I don't want to get over it. I am really satisfied with the way the team is performing, the way the players are evolving, what the team transmits, the momentum we have as a football club. In all departments, not only on the men's side, but the women's side, what we are doing with the academy, the prospects that we have there.

"But we need that pain and that hunger to achieve what we want to achieve because the competition is unbelievable and we are going to need everybody feeling that way to achieve it."

Arsenal will begin their pre-season in the USA against Bournemouth on July 24, followed by matches against Manchester United and Liverpool on July 27 and 31, respectively. Arteta's side will also enter the upcoming Premier League season as among the favorites to win the title.