ART of deception

GUNNERS BOSS NEEDS TO TAKE HIS REDS TITLE THEORY OFF THE TABLE

- PAUL GORST

Having been eliminated at the last-16 phase by Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool might reasonably have assumed the Champions League was no longer their business this season.

But their achievement of winning the Premier League title with four games to spare under Arne Slot saw their name being flung about in Mikel Arteta's prematch press conference when the Arsenal boss spoke to the media ahead of his side's semi-final second leg with PSG on Wednesday night.

Speaking on Tuesday, the Gunners boss, seemingly unprompted, attempted to play down the significance of Liverpool's 15-point lead at the top of the table, with an assessment that came off sounding more like sour grapes than whatever point the former Everton midfielder was actually attempting to make.

Asked if he felt under pressure to deliver a trophy at the Emirates this term, five years on from the club's most recent snaring of silver in the form of the 2020 FA Cup, Arteta said: "We are going to try and do it this season but winning trophies is about being in the right moment in the right place.