Lauren believes Arsenal will win Premier League, says Bournemouth celebrations weren’t OTT and thinks Spurs will collapse
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Lauren was a member of Arsenal’s Invincibles that won the Premier League title without losing a game in the 2003-4 season.
In an exclusive interview, the former Gunners defender talked to Ladbrokes: Fanzone about the current squad’s title chances, Saturday’s win against Bournemouth, Arsenal’s best player this season and predicts which team will finish in the top four.
Arsenal will win the Premier League this season
I like to think in a positive way, so why would I think that Arsenal are not going to win the Premier League? The team is doing well, playing a lot of good quality football overall and they show us they can manage the pressure in adversity so whatever happens, Arsenal fans have to be proud of this young bunch of players because they gave us the belief that we can win big games – belief that we can win the Premier League. Whatever happens I feel very proud because they’ve been absolutely amazing since the start of the season.
It was one of my biggest concerns a few weeks ago that they were buckling under the pressure but we’ve seen in the last two games that they’ve been brilliant, especially the last one. People will say that it was only Bournemouth but they still had to bounce back from two goals down.
When you’re top of the table there is big pressure there in the dressing room amongst the players, but they showed character and determination. My worries are going away, because the team showed that sort of mentality that you need in order to win the title.
Arsenal should be receiving more praise for the Bournemouth win
It’s not ideal to concede a goal so early in the game but these things happen. Bournemouth scoring after nine seconds is not something you can control.
Arsenal pressed high and everybody knew what to do in that moment, the passing game, the quality and speed of their circulation of the ball was amazing.
To do that for 90 minutes was not an easy thing to do and I believe there should be more merit in regard to Arsenal’s display than the weaknesses of Bournemouth.
🚨 Goosebumps alert! 🚨
🤯 The reaction on the pitch
🎙 The reaction on the mic
🤳 The reaction on social⏩ Our latest Fast Forward is not to be missed 👇
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 6, 2023
There was nothing over the top about Arsenal’s celebrations against Bournemouth.
When you’re losing at home 0-2, you’re top of the table and you know that it’s a big game with big pressure, people don’t realise how big the pressure is to be there losing 0-2 to bounce back and win the game.
It was nothing over the top celebrating the way they did. It was a big celebration that they deserve to celebrate, but then, they need to keep calm because there is still a long way to go.
Arsenal are feeling the pressure but they are handling it
Arsenal are feeling pressure and I saw that against Everton. It’s never easy to go to Goodison Park as it’s somewhere Everton play well, so you will always feel that pressure, but the response has been brilliant along with their determination and resilience to manage all kinds of situations.
To manage the momentum when you’re losing the game, you can lose your calmness, but the team look like they can bounce back and win these games under pressure. They’re still passing the ball, pressing high up, still defending deep when needed. They’ve still played a good position and the team have managed to handle the pressure.
Saka is the stand-out star of the squad
I would pick the whole squad instead of one player of the season, but if I had to pick just one, then it’s got to be Bukayo Saka. The boy has scored big penalties when the pressure is on and he’s scoring goals, as we saw against Man Utd when the team needed to step up and take some responsibility. He has done it against United and Liverpool.
3 Points, 3 Smiles 😁
Keep Believing! 🔴 pic.twitter.com/yMw7tBp53E— Bukayo Saka (@BukayoSaka87) March 4, 2023
The pressure he applied in order to win that ball and score the second goal – he has been absolutely the best player for Arsenal this season.
The Invincibles generation was fantastic, and I would stick with them first, but if I had to pick someone from the current Arsenal squad to make it then it would be Bukayo Saka.
Right now the team doesn’t need strengthening
I don’t think that Arsenal need to worry about summer signings at this moment in time, just believe in those players that we have already.
Whether or not we win the league is not going to be down to who we sign in the transfer window it’s to believe in the people we have now.
I totally believe in the 25-man squad we have in the Premier League right now and have confidence in them until the end of the season. If we win the league then we can think about who is going to sign, but right now it’s not the right time to think about who’s going to join next year.
Liverpool will finish inside the top four because Spurs always collapse
I believe Liverpool will finish inside the top four. On Sunday they showed an amazing display, scoring seven goals against Manchester United. They have a very strong squad – Salah and Firmino scoring goals – so I believe they will finish in the top four.
Newcastle United have been growing a lot and they have been brilliant, but sometimes you get to the stage that you win, or you get to your goal and I think people lie down a little bit and relax.
5️⃣ consecutive @PremierLeague clean sheets for the Reds 👏 pic.twitter.com/jIafJYT1fa
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) March 6, 2023
At Newcastle they have almost no expectations this season. They have good players and new coaches all together in this first year so to be near the Champions League positions is good, but I expect them to drop a bit.
Spurs somehow showed a very good game against Man City at home, very aggressive and they played very well and were very impressive going forward but they always collapse at some point, and I believe they will collapse between now and the end of the season.
