The Sun Newspaper

MIKEL ARTETA admits Arsenal ARE in a relegation scrap.
And the under-fire Gunners boss, 38, has warned his flops they must pick up points over the crucial festive period.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are in the midst of a crisis

Arsenal have only won one of their last ten league matches

Arsenal start the day in 15th, four points above the drop zone.
They host rivals Chelsea this evening, desperately chasing their first Prem win since November 1, before massive games against fellow strugglers Brighton and West Brom.
And Arteta declared: “The next seven or eight days are going to be crucial to where we’re heading to in the Premier League. We have a crucial week, we have to stand up and we have to pick up points.”
And when asked if he and his players now accept they are in a relegation dogfight, Spaniard Arteta replied:  “Yes, absolutely.”

Arsenal have enjoyed an uninterrupted 101 YEARS in the top flight, after being elected to the old First Division in 1919.

But they could start their  Emirates clash with Chelsea just two points off the drop zone if Fulham beat high-flying Southampton this afternoon.
New West Brom boss Sam Allardyce has already warned Arteta he is in a relegation fight.
And the Arsenal chief added: “It’s been us that have let ourselves down and it is down to us to change it.

“I have to protect my players and I will keep doing it.
“When I see they are really trying and they are trying to do the best thing and then mistakes, errors, whatever happens, I will support them to the last day — this is the way I have to do it.

“They have to play on the pitch, they have to put in the performances and we are here  to help them as much as possible.
“We have to accept that, at the moment, it is nowhere near enough.”
Skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will have a late fitness test on his calf injury this morning but Arteta is hopeful he will be fit to face the Blues.

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FUMING Frank Lampard accused Premier League and TV bosses of compromising his players’ safety with the Christmas fixtures.
Chelsea play Arsenal at the Emirates tonight at 5.30pm on Sky Sports and then host Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge at the same time on Monday on Amazon Prime Video.

Frank Lampard has accused Prem and TV bosses of compromising Chelsea’s safetyCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Lampard fears his squad are in danger after having a request to postpone their Aston Villa game deniedCredit: PA:Press Association

Lampard, 42, is livid that a request from both clubs to move the match back by 24 hours to Tuesday was denied.
He said: “It’s counter-productive for the quality of the Premier League.
“It’s a risk for players if they are going to play both games at the top-end elite sport. Everybody knows that.
“The schedule meant, and Aston Villa wanted this as well, that we could have played Tuesday.

“We both wanted an extra day to play but we got overruled by the Premier League and the broadcasters.
“It got decided that we’ll play twice in 48 hours when other teams that are challenging at the top of the League play twice in three days, and have an extra 24 hours recovery.
“I don’t see how it’s a fair playing field. It’s wrong and it’s not going to be the best for the players to play at their top level.
“Don’t get me wrong, Aston Villa have the same problem, but I’m just saying we aren’t getting the rest period that other teams are getting.”

Fifth-placed Chelsea, who have injury doubts in Ben Chilwell, Reece James and Hakim Ziyech, are hoping to maintain pace with Liverpool and Leicester City at the top of the Premier League.
Clubs have already been hamstrung this year with the tight Covid-19 regulations and shortest pre-season in history.
Lampard added: “I understand the schedule is hectic. So every little win you can get by using common sense to put a game to be broadcast on another day, you take those small wins to try and help the player welfare.
“This situation, 26th and 28th for us when others are not, it’s compromising the players if they are going to play those two games, which some may have to.
“It also compromises the competition because others don’t have to do the same. It’s clear that it’s not ample recovery time for top-level football.

“Speak to every club in the Premier League, the sports scientists – the second day after a game is a second day recovery.
“It’s not good for the players to go and even train at medium to high level, let alone go and play 90 minutes.
“Everybody knows that. The broadcasters are looking for the best product. I will have to rotate players and see off the backdrop of Arsenal where players are with their fitness.
“Every individual is different and we’ll do our best to get the turnaround right.
“I remember it from a long time ago, 20 years ago when I was at West Ham, so we’ve certainly gone back in time, in terms of still playing over two days.
“In the old, old days they played back-to-back games. So, for some reason, somebody’s taken it back in time when we have the best product in the world and we want to see the best players on the pitch.”
⚽ Read our Chelsea live blog for the very latest news from the Bridge

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SAM ALLARDYCE is the last manager to win at Anfield in the Premier League — but feels he will need a miracle to pull off the same feat tomorrow.
Big Sam led Crystal Palace to a 2-1 victory at Liverpool on April 23, 2017 and, astonishingly, Jurgen Klopp’s Reds have not lost a top-flight home game since.

No manager has beaten Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League since Sam Allardyce in April 2017Credit: PA:Press Association

The new West Brom boss knows his relegation-threatened side are huge underdogs, especially after Liverpool put seven past Palace on Saturday — but he clearly still has his eyes on an upset.
Allardyce said: “If we can get a result, if we miraculously get a victory over Liverpool at Anfield — which could happen at any time in this league — it will be a wonderful achievement by the players.
“If you open up too much against Liverpool they’ll play straight through you.
“You saw all types of goals and quality finishes against Palace and in the end — unlike Roy’s teams — it was a collapse from them.

“That’s the last thing you want in my position, to see the players go under, not able to stop them and coming off after a pretty big thrashing.”
Allardyce still remember that victory on Merseyside when one ex-Liverpool player was out to show what he could do.
Former Kop striker Christian Benteke scored both Palace goals.
And Big Sam said: “The surprising thing was that we went 1-0 down.

“But the belief of the team came back when we scored the equaliser.
“Christian aimed to prove something as he’d been let go by Liverpool.
“But I’d like to have this game later down the line when I know more about the players.
“I’m going to do my best to set the tactics out as best we can.
“If we can do that and stick together, in and out of possession, then we can frustrate Liverpool.
“It’ll be even better if we have the chance to score a goal, even the first goal, it may lift our spirits even more.”
But Allardyce has nothing but admiration for what Klopp has done.
He added: “I heard him say the other day, which was a real positive for his backroom team — he said, ‘Am I the best coach in the world? No. Have I got the best coaches? Yes.’

Christian Benteke scored both goals against his former side in the comeback victoryCredit: Rex Features

Big Sam reckons his West Brom side need a miracle to beat Jurgen Klopp’s men on SundayCredit: Rex Features
“That’s a massive boost for the people who work behind Jurgen Klopp.
“It shows how much respect he has for them and how they help him.
“That’s the route I try to employ, somebody much better at that particular job than I am, and hope it works.
“Jurgen’s charisma, and his love for Liverpool, has paid off 1,000 per cent.”
The Baggies may be scrapping for their lives — but Big Sam still wants his players LAUGHING.
He added: “I cracked a couple of gags and they looked at me as if to say, ‘What’s the boss doing?’
“I’m here to enjoy myself. We need a bond and sense of humour.”

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LISTEN, the last thing you want to hear after this God-awful year is how tough it is to be a professional footballer over the festive season.
And we all know it is an occupational hazard to find  ourselves training on Christmas morning, then holed up alone in a hotel room on Christmas night and New Year’s Eve, while away from our families.

The Christmas period is always a tough and tiring time for playersCredit: Reuters

Of course, our hearts go out to all the NHS staff and other essential workers who have to do proper work at Christmas — this year more than ever.
But anyway, and I do not expect any violin music here, it really can be a bit grim!
My worst experience of festive football was seven years ago, when the fixture computer must have gone on the blink and Watford were handed Yeovil Town away in a Championship game on New Year’s Day 2014.
We spent much of New Year’s Eve on the coach to Somerset, that horrible journey past Stonehenge and then found ourselves in the worst hotel we’d ever stayed in.

The showers didn’t work and the team meal was a disaster because they couldn’t even cook us pasta properly.
And then it was off to bed, trying  to sleep through the fireworks at  midnight.
So far, so bad — but then at 10am on New Year’s Day, we were told the pitch was waterlogged, the match was postponed and we were straight back on the A303!
This time of year is not what it used to be in professional football — the days of boozy Christmas parties are long gone.

We haven’t had a proper lively one since we went to the darts at Ally Pally four or five years back and were playing drinking games — neck a pint if there’s a 180 and all that.
These days most managers will not allow anything like that. In the days of camera phones and social media it is more trouble than it’s worth and I totally accept that.
Most years now, it’s just a team meal, with maybe a few of us having a  couple drinks afterwards — not that I’ve touched any alcohol for months, as it happens.
Usually, Christmas Day means getting up at 6am so the kids can open their presents, then heading to training, coming back for Christmas dinner.
I do still have turkey and the  trimmings, just in moderation and not after a full English breakfast!
And then you’re off to the hotel for Christmas night, even for an afternoon home game on Boxing Day.
I tell you what, though, when I finish playing I am going to have a massive family do and cook Christmas dinner for everyone.
I haven’t seen my mum for Christmas dinner for at least five years. And I intend to gorge myself. If I can’t rest my plate on my belly at the end of the meal, I won’t have done it justice.
Last year was a bit different to usual as my son Clay was born on December 23, coming out of hospital on  Christmas Eve.

Footballers even have to make do without fans this yearCredit: Getty Images – Getty

Troy Deeney says he’ll be having a feast for his Christmas dinnerCredit: PA:Press Association
So I actually got a couple of days off on “paternity leave”, not having to train on Christmas Day but driving myself up to Yorkshire after lunch to spend the night in a hotel before we played Sheffield United on Boxing Day.
One question you are often asked is, “Do players deliberately get suspended over Christmas?” And the answer is “not any more — but they certainly used to”.
In my early days at Walsall it  definitely happened a couple of times, players who had received two yellow cards between August and November, suddenly getting three in a row in December so they were banned for Boxing Day.
If it was a senior pro, then the  manager would give them Christmas Day off training because it would have been more trouble than it was worth in the long run if they’d forced them in.
Of course, the British lads know all about the packed fixture list over Christmas and new year, which is pretty much unique.
Players who come here from abroad may know that we play over Christmas but they still tend to be shocked by quite how full-on the fixture list is. Once they get used to it, they tend to love it, though, just as we do.
I think a Boxing Day crowd is often the best of the year as it feels like everyone is having a proper day out.
We’ll miss the crowds this year, at Christmas more than ever. And I really missed the hospital visit which, like most clubs, Watford usually do before Christmas.
Visiting sick kids who are going to be in hospital over Christmas really does give you a sense of perspective and it is rewarding for us. When you go into the wards, laden with presents, you get into the  festive spirit.
That wasn’t possible this year because of Covid but I’ll be thinking of those kids, the doctors and nurses, and it will certainly make me realise that a pointless New Year’s Eve trip to Yeovil wasn’t actually as bad as all that.

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