Arteta reveals a key reason behind Arsenal's upturn in form

The Gunners made it three league wins in a row on Saturday for the first time since September to recoup lost ground in the standings.

Mikel Arteta believes an increase in confidence has led to Arsenal’s improved performances following Saturday’s victory at West Brom.

Goals from Kieran Tierney, Bukayo Saka, and Alexandre Lacazette’s brace sealed the Gunners a convincing 4-0 win at the Hawthorns. It was their biggest win of the league campaign and a third in a row, moving them up to 11th in the standings.

Another notable takeaway from the match was that Arsenal had moved to within six points of third-place Tottenham. They may have played a game more than the top three sides so far, but it’s still another promising sign of progress.

“It was a convincing win,” Arteta told BT Sport.

“To win three on the spin over Christmas in the Premier League is not easy.

“In phases when the weather was better and the conditions were a little easier, I felt we played some excellent football. At the end, we had to manage some moments and the conditions.

“The first two goals, the first action with Kieran was terrific, the second one with the combination play was fantastic as well.

“The clean sheet, that’s two in a row now, and that gives us a platform to win games. We look more of a threat, and more creative, and our attacking play was much better today.”

The Arsenal manager noted how confidence and the energy levels inside his squad had grown over the festive period.

Arteta continued: “I am so happy that we were able to achieve the target we had. The table looks completely different.

“The energy around the place is much better. Wins bring a lot of confidence and you can see that in the way the team played.”