Papastathopoulos confident of Arsenal’s top-four prospects this season

Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos is confident that the Gunners can make the top four despite suffering a 1-0 defeat to Everton on the road last weekend. The north London side are currently three points behind the fourth position occupied by Chelsea but they have the advantage of two games in hand over the west London outfit.

In an interview covered by Sky Sports, Sokratis acknowledged that the Gunners were outclassed by the Toffees in the recent away meeting. Nonetheless, the central defender remains optimistic about the club’s top four prospects and believes four wins from the remaining six matches should achieve their objective, he said: “We didn’t win a lot of battles. We conceded a goal that is a little bit easy and lost the game. But we are looking forward. We know that we have to win at least two games at home and two games away. We need to win at least four games. In the end, we will see if we are there.”

“The Greece international won’t feature for the Gunners this weekend after picking up his 10th yellow card of the season“ which warrants a two-game domestic suspension. As such, the Capital outfit would have to utilise the services of Shkodran Mustafi in the defender’s absence, and it remains to be seen whether the German can help the Gunners cease “their recent away woes“.

The north London club have managed just one away league win against relegated Huddersfield Town this year and the upcoming game against Watford should present with another testing challenge. The Hornets should be mentally boosted after reaching the FA Cup final, but it will be interesting to see whether the players play with the regular intensity, considering the potential fear of getting injured ahead of the Wembley showpiece against Manchester City next month.