Cup success could open the door to more, says Arsenal boss Arteta

Mikel Arteta said he has “full faith” in his squad and believes winning the Carabao Cup will create a snowball effect for further success ahead of Arsenal’s quarter-final tie against Crystal Palace. 

The misfiring Gunners have slipped to third in the Premier League following back-to-back draws – with a smattering of boos greeting the final whistle following Saturday’s stalemate against Everton at the Emirates.

After their opening 16 games in the league, Arsenal’s tally of 30 points is six worse than last season and 10 less than they managed in the campaign before.

Arteta will celebrate his five-year anniversary at Arsenal on Friday. Under the Spaniard’s tenure, the club have emerged as championship contenders – finishing runner-up to Manchester City for the past two seasons.

However, Arteta has overseen just one trophy – the FA Cup in 2020 – and they are six points behind Liverpool in the race for the title having played one match more than Arne Slot’s side. But Arteta believes success in the Carabao Cup could serve as a springboard to winning their first league title in two decades.

He added: “It (winning a trophy) is really helpful because it brings belief, trust, positive energy, touching the cup, and being in the semi-final and beating somebody in the final.

“It creates that energy and the right path to go and do something else, particularly because of the timing and when the competition is played in this country, it gets that momentum going.

“I fully believe in that, the fact that you are winning and you get into the next round and it creates something different around the team and that is why these kind of games are so important.

“We want to win and we will do everything we can to win it. The pressure is about being at a big club or winning the major trophies, and this is what we want to do.”