ARSENAL legend Cesc Fabregas raised an important “question mark” regarding his former club’s Premier League title challenge after their victory over rivals Tottenham.
The Gunners’ flying start to the top flight was extended on Saturday when they won 3-1 in the North London derby at the Emirates with goals by Thomas Partey, Gabriel Jesus and Granit Xhaka.
The North Londoners are now top of the league after winning seven of their eight Prem games and many consider them as the only side that can challenge Manchester City to the top.
But Fabregas believes the Europa League could pose as a hurdle in Arsenal’s bid to win their first Premier League title since the Invincibles’ campaign in 2004.
The legendary midfielder fears the schedule could take a toll on the players’ fitness.
Fabregas told BT Sport: “It will be tough, it’s a big challenge but I’m very confident.
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“The only question mark for me is the Europa League. It’s tricky because you play every Thursday, the games can be very far away and you end up getting back at 4am and then you need to play again in the league on Sunday.
“That’s not easy at all, so it will be interesting to see how Mikel Arteta handles that situation. But I’m confident that they are in a good place to do it.”
Arsenal manager Arteta remains coy about a potential title challenge this season.
Instead, the Spanish tactician praised his players’ “phenomenal” performance against Antonio Conte’s strong Tottenham side, who temporarily equalised with Harry Kane.
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Arteta told BT Sport: “They were phenomenal. We went from it and we created great energy in the stadium and deserved to win the game.
“With our way of playing we can attack in different ways. They [Tottenham] don’t need much and you have the feeling that they can create. You have to live with that.
“But we didn’t have that in the back of our mind, we were free, courageous and brave and this is what we demand from the players.
“It gives us a lot of encouragement and confidence to believe that we can play at this level.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
