Bukayo Saka sends title message to Arsenal's rivals Liverpool and Man City

Bukayo Saka believes Arsenal have made a "statement" in the title race.

The six-goal demolition of West Ham has shown Arsenal mean business and are determined to go toe-to-toe with Manchester City and Liverpool. It was vital they backed up their morale-boosting win over Liverpool the previous week with a victory at West Ham. And it was not just the three points - but the style in which they won.

Arsenal have not been playing with the same flair and free-flowing style as last season and yet, at West Ham, they blitzed their London rivals with a sensational display. Saka, 22, said: “We knew this was a big game and it was really important for us to win and make a statement. I think we did really well scoring six and keeping a clean sheet.”

‌Arsenal’s win puts them right in the mix in a three-horse title race with just two points separating Mikel Arteta’s men from City and Liverpool. If Arsenal had managed one more goal, they would have overhauled City and gone into second on goal difference which just underlines how close it is at the top.

City remain the bookies’ favourites while Liverpool are top and Arsenal have been seen as the outsiders in recent weeks. Back-to-back defeats against West Ham at home and at Fulham between Christmas and New Year saw them get written off in some quarters.

But since then, they have won four games in a row, smashing five past Crystal Palace, winning at Nottingham Forest and then beating Liverpool and West Ham. They had tripped up in their last three games with West Ham - blowing a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at London Stadium last season, losing at home in December and getting knocked out of the Carabao Cup this season.

But Arsenal know from the experiences of last season, it is more about how you finish