'Brutal' title collapse of last season fuelling Odegaard and Arsenal

Martin Odegaard is hoping the "brutal" way Arsenal lost the Premier League title last season can help them lift the trophy this year.

The Gunners led the way for 248 days during the last campaign before ultimately being caught and passed by eventual champions Manchester City.

Mikel Arteta's side are once again in among the contenders this season but missed the chance to move back to the summit as they slipped to a 2-0 home defeat to West Ham on Thursday night.

If results go their way, victory at Fulham on New Year's Eve could still see Arsenal top of the table heading into 2024 - where Odegaard is aiming to go one better than last year.

"Hopefully, we have learnt some lessons from last year. It was a brutal end to the season for us," he said.

"We can use this in a good way - and show we have learned and gained some important experience.

"We know the quality of Man City and all the others and we know it's is a very, very tough league. But we believe in ourselves, to keep fighting and to keep improving.

"This league is the toughest in the world and no matter what team you play it's always going to be a big fight."

After a good display at Liverpool earned Arsenal a point, they slipped to defeat to West Ham and now head to Craven Cottage just three days later.

"That's the good thing, we have another game in a few days, so there's no time to be too disappointed," added Odegaard.

"We have to make sure we are ready for Fulham and win that one - it's a tough league but you have to be ready for all the games and every team. We will learn from this and come back stronger.

"I mean you have to win a lot of games (to win the league) and that's why every game we have we must play to win."

PA