Portugal Colonial - Arsenal must be near-perfect to catch Liverpool, says Arteta

Arsenal, runners-up to Manchester City over the past two seasons, were expected to challenge again this year but instead Liverpool have raced eight points clear of second-placed City.

The Gunners go into Saturday's match against West Ham on a high after hammering Sporting Lisbon 5-1 in the Champions League in midweek.

Last weekend they beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 at home to end a four-match winless run in the league that cost them vital ground.

Victory at the London Stadium on Saturday would likely lift Arsenal to second in the table ahead of the Sunday matches, which includes a pivotal clash between Liverpool and City.

Arteta was asked at his pre-match press conference on Friday whether his team would have to be almost flawless to stand any chance of catching Liverpool, who have won 10 of their 12 games.

"If they continue that way, that's for sure, with the numbers they're producing and the amount of games they're winning," said the Arsenal manager.

"But the focus is on us, maintaining the consistency, especially in performances, that will give us the right to win a lot of games... this is a long run."

He said he felt momentum was building at Arsenal again after the international break.

"Winning lifts the energy and our confidence," he added. "They were two big wins for us and now it's about consistency, getting that momentum, take it further against a good opponent tomorrow and try to replicate the performance to win the game."

He added: "This is every three days so it doesn't matter what you did yesterday, it's about the next days, the next performance. Are you able to sustain high-level performance throughout the game as well because of how competitive every opponent is right now? And that's what we will try to do tomorrow."

Arsenal's uptick in form has coincided with the return of captain Martin Odegaard, who spent two months on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

Arteta said the "exceptional" midfielder had hit the ground running since his return earlier this month.

"Good players that are so consistent and so reliable, that can take the game to a different level and make the players better around them -- that's a huge quality of Martin's and he has been missed," he said.

M.A.Vaz--PC