LONDON
\nArsenal need to build a stronger in-game mentality, midfielder Declan Rice said after the north London club dropped points in back-to-back matches with a 2-1 defeat against Fulham on Sunday, hurting their Premier League title challenge.
\nArsenal failed to capitalise on an early lead given by Bukayo Saka at Craven Cottage, slipping to fourth place on 40 points at the halfway stage of the campaign, having lost 2-0 at home against West Ham United on Thursday.
\nWhile there may be pressure from reigning champions Manchester City and this season\u2019s surprise package Aston Villa\u2019s victories over the weekend, Rice said Arsenal will not hit the panic button.
\n\u201cWhen you go 1-0 up, you need to take more control and have more self-belief,\u201d Rice told Sky Sports. \u201cYou need to have more desire, the mentality needs to be better. We need to demand more for each other.
\n\u201cIn this league, there\u2019s no room to mess up. There\u2019s so many good teams around you and we want to be pushing up the top end of the table. It\u2019s a tough one to take today.\u201d
\nArsenal are not fixated on the points table, Rice added. Villa moved up to 42 points, the same as Liverpool, who lead on goal difference and host Newcastle United later on Monday, while City sit third with a game in hand.
\n\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of media who talk and say \u2018Arsenal will win the league this year, Arsenal are better this year\u2019, and whatnot. But we don\u2019t get involved in that, we just try to take every game as we can, one by one,\u201d Rice said.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been doing really well. There\u2019s been a blip in the road, but there\u2019s no room to panic. There\u2019s still so many games to go, we need to stay positive. It\u2019s not the time to be negative.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Arsenal need to build a stronger in-game mentality, midfielder Declan Rice said after the north London club dropped points in back-to-back matches with a 2-1 defeat against Fulham on Sunday, hurting their Premier League title challenge. Arsenal failed to capitalise on an early lead given by Bukayo Saka at Craven Cottage, slipping to fourth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-378222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n