Bukayo Saka warned Manchester City and Liverpool that Arsenal have rediscovered their best form after stringing together three consecutive and convincing victories in the last week.

The Gunners moved up to second place in the Premier League table with a 5-2 evisceration of West Ham United on Saturday evening. Arsenal had also racked up five goals in a devastating Champions League victory over Sporting CP on Tuesday night, shortly after dispatching Nottingham Forest 3-0 last weekend.

Between the October and November international breaks, Arsenal lost three of seven matches, defeating just Shakhtar Donetsk and second-tier Preston North End. The prolonged absence of Martin Odegaard was a significant factor in this underwhelming run of blunt form.

The Norwegian captain has started all three of Arsenal’s wins this week. After devilishly dovetailing with his skipper throughout Saturday’s blitz at the London Stadium, Saka told the assembled media: “Definitely, the last three games, we’ve been back, back to our best, back to our best way of playing.

“We’re fluid, we’re dynamic and you can see the movements, the rotations, everything looks good. We need to continue like this, we played three good games but we know in this league it’s not enough.”

Arteta never gave up Arsenal’s title aspirations and his optimism was only bolstered by the latest capital thrashing. “We have got some momentum, we have some flow back and a real determination,” the Spanish coach beamed before turning the spotlight on the lofty clash between Liverpool and Manchester City on Sunday afternoon. “We are going to enjoy tonight and watch a beautiful game of football tomorrow.”

There will not be much time for rest as the festive fixture list cranks into gear. Arsenal are back in action on Wednesday night when they host Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United and face a daunting sequence of six games in 17 days before Christmas.

However, the Gunners have been aided by a fortuitous quirk in the calendar which ensures that their next eight matches across all competitions will be staged in London.

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