London (AFP) – Petr Cech believes Arsenal will have to win all their remaining matches if they are to secure a place in the top five of the Premier League.
The Gunners are currently six points adrift of fifth-placed London rivals Chelsea, with both sides having a maximum of 15 points to play for from their five remaining league games this season.
Arsenal’s best hope of qualifying for European football, next season, however, could lie in winning this term’s Europa League, where they face Atletico Madrid in a two-legged semi-final.
Sunday saw Arsene Wenger’s men suffer a fifth successive away league defeat when they lost 2-1 at Newcastle and Arsenal goalkeeper Cech told the London Evening Standard on Wednesday: “We are in the two competitions, so now need to keep switching between them and do our best. We are in a position now where we must win all our remaining games and hope it lifts us in the table.
“We are in a very difficult moment because everybody else has a big advantage.”
The former Chelsea star added: “In the Europa League, we have a semi-final to play, so we need to make sure we are ready.”
Meanwhile, Cech was at a loss to understand Arsenal’s worst run of away league results in over 30 years.
“It’s very difficult to explain why because until last season, we were one of the best teams in terms of the away record,” he said. “But somehow it has completely reversed this season and we don’t seem to find the answer for it.
“When you commit so many team mistakes, away or home, you get punished and Sunday proved that. Of course you try to address that, but clearly the same things are happening.
“We don’t do these mistakes — the team mistakes — when we play at home.”
