Arsenal can still finish in the top four this season claims Granit Xhaka

Arsenal go to Southampton on Wednesday night, their hardest game of their run-in, but if they can win that they could well have the momentum to take them over the line

Granit Xhaka still believes Arsenal can finish in the top four (Getty Images)

Granit Xhaka still believes that Arsenal can finish fourth this season. After beating Manchester United 2-0 on Sunday, Arsene Wenger’s side still have a faint hope of qualifying for next season’s Champions League. But they would need to win all four of their remaining league games, and hope that Liverpool do not win both of theirs, West Ham United away and Middlesbrough at home.

It is still a slim possibility for Arsenal, but it is likelier than it was after a Sunday when Liverpool drew at home with Southampton before Wenger finally recorded a competitive victory over a Jose Mourinho side. It was the perfect response to miserably losing 2-0 at White Hart Lane the previous Sunday, and there were signs that Wenger may have found the right balance in his team again.

Xhaka played alongside Aaron Ramsey in central midfield and the pair worked better together than any midfield combination Arsenal have used for months. Xhaka set the tempo with his passing, Ramsey with his clever runs, and they made Arsenal look better than they have done in months. Now Xhaka can see a positive end to what has been a difficult league season, even before the FA Cup final on 27 May.

“This is a phase where we have to win every game, which we know,” said Xhaka. “We have four games left that we need to approach in the same way as today. If we do that, I’m convinced that we can achieve what we want now.”

Arsenal go to Southampton on Wednesday night, their hardest game of their run-in. But if they can win that they could well have the momentum to take them over the line.

“We always have hope,” Xhaka said. “Hope dies last. It’s up to us, we need some luck along the way, but if we win the next four games, I’m convinced that we can do it.”

Xhaka picked up a knock at White Hart Lane last Sunday but played through it against Manchester United before he was eventually substituted. But he is playing better than he has done since arriving from Borussia Monchengladbach and has even curbed his habit of getting sent off.

“In football you get criticised if you are sent off,” Xhaka admitted. “It’s my style of play and nobody can make me change that. Even if I get another red card, then that happens. You become cleverer, maybe look more and since my red card, I think things have improved.”

Xhaka looks to be adapting to Premier League football now, although he said that football in different countries is less different than it might look. “It’s not like I played my first football match in England,” he said. “For me, football is pretty much the same everywhere, the ball is round. Maybe tactically things are different than at other clubs I’ve played for.”