Arsene Wenger demands Arsenal response against Man United

Arsene Wenger is confident that Arsenal will prove their title credentials by showing the character to bounce back from their 5-1 thrashing at Liverpool.

The Gunners were blown away by the Reds at Anfield as Brendan Rodgers’ men raced into a 4-0 lead before half-time, with Martin Skrtel scoring twice and strikes from Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge putting the home side firmly in command.

It’s always what you make of the defeats that decides your future

Arsene Wenger

Sterling then made it 5-0 shortly after the break, before Mikel Arteta netted a late consolation from the penalty spot for the visitors.

The heavy defeat allowed Chelsea to leapfrog Arsenal into first place in the Premier League table thanks to the Blues’ 3-0 win over Newcastle.

But Wenger, whose side host Manchester United on Wednesday, is confident that the Gunners will respond with a good performance against the defending champions.

“Of course [we are still in the title race] because, no matter what happens, it will be mathematically possible,” said Wenger.

“It’s always what you make of the defeats that decides your future and tonight we have a lot to answer for and a lot of answers to find.

“What is important is that we respond to the result, especially that we respond with a different performance because our performance overall was poor today – on the concentration level and on the pace.

“It was a similar situation against [Manchester] City, Saturday morning, 12:45 and early goals. We have to analyse well what happened, why it happened but we didn’t look sharp physically as well.”