After Arsenal beat Chelsea to move back to the top of the Premier League, Mikel Arteta conceded for the first time at Stamford Bridge that Arsenal are in title contention. One of his ‘soldiers’, the Ukrainian defender Oleksandr Zinchenko, went a bit further with the tone and declared that the Gunners ‘have a dream’. And now more than ever in the last 18 years, Arsenal are entitled to dream of the Premier League trophy.New ‘blood’ within the crew, Zinchecnko and his fellow ex-Cityzens Gabriel Jesus, brought a lot to the north Londoners in terms of confidence off the field and tempo and intensity on the field.The Ukrainian is aware of the potential this Arsenal squad carries and therefore calls on ‘special’ Arsenal to look beyond the top four, ‘destroy’ that stereotype and challenge Man City for the title.’I would say that before I got used to hearing that Arsenal, it means straight away in your mind: top four, top four. I would say, I really want to kill and destroy this stereotype,’ Zinchenko said.’We need to look further, and I think this team, this group of people, the fans, they deserve more. That’s what we need to do. We need hard work in this and let’s see at the end of season. You ask me if we can challenge Man City. Of course, they are an amazing team, but you never know what can happen in football. We need to go step by step with every single game.’##NAJAVA_MECA_6798276##Zinchenko is determined not to look too far ahead, he senses this ‘special’ side can ‘achieve something this season.”I can feel that this group of people, they are special. Starting from our staff and then all the people on our training ground, our fans, we believe in ourselves, every single game.’ he added.Arsenal can ensure they are top at Christmas with victory at Wolves on Saturday. Zinchenko believes that would represent ‘an important’ milestone for Arteta’s side: ‘If we are there (top of the League), it’s perfect for us.’He will be among the Arsenal players not heading to Qatar. Arteta is slated to take them to Dubai for a couple of friendlies before a final fixture at the Emirates ahead of the Premier League’s Boxing Day return.’It is going to be a bit of a new experience for us, but I am pretty sure that the coaching staff are going to make the right decision for everyone to keep us fit,’ Zinchenko said.’Fingers crossed everyone is going to come back from the World Cup fit and fully healthy.’Stamford Bridge is Red! Arsenal defeat the Blues away for the third time in a rowArteta wanted to add more edge to his dressing room and Arsenal have this season showed tremendous grit to win all but two Premier League games.’There is always some space to improve but I think we are in the right way as a team, as a family,’ Zinchenko said.’It starts in the dressing room and it’s on the pitch as well. We are trying to push each other, to help each other. I think this is the right way to do it. Still we have a dream, we believe that we can achieve something this season. Let’s see what is going to happen… for us it is so important to be where we are now.’🔝 @Arsenal’s most successful manager after 150 games in charge 👏 pic.twitter.com/ABar10HhBP— Amazon Prime Video Sport (@primevideosport) November 7, 2022
