Wenger: Arsenal not obsessed with finishing ahead of Tottenham

Arsene Wenger has stressed he is not obsessed with finishing ahead of Tottenham after Mauricio Pochettino's men leapfrogged Arsenal in the Premier League table in midweek.

The Frenchman has never finished behind Spurs during his time in charge of Arsenal, but their recent poor form has seen them fall behind their London rivals after 24 games.

Nevertheless, Wenger has stressed that he is not paying attention to Tottenham's position and is adamant Arsenal are still very much in the title picture.

"If Tottenham are in the race for the title, then so are we," the Arsenal manager said at a news conference ahead of this weekend's game versus AFC Bournemouth.

"I am not obsessed by finishing ahead of Tottenham. Are they a bigger danger now than ever before? Spurs are always a threat. But we are not thinking about Tottenham. We just want to do well and are focused on our own performances. We have to believe in what we are doing.

"We have to look at the facts. We have not won for four games and we really have to start winning again. But we are not looking at other teams. We usually finish strong in the second half of the season, but we have gone through a rough patch. But we have to deal with that in order to win the title.

"We would like the title race to be less interesting, but there are five or six teams in it. Manchester United are still in it and West Ham mathematically as well..."

Arsenal have gone four games without a win in the Premier League since their 1-0 victory over Newcastle on January 2, but Wenger sees no cause for concern.

"There is no reason to panic," he added. "We have not been scoring goals, but our performances have been alright.

"We played at Stoke, who are quite strong at home. And we played with 10 men versus Chelsea, which is very difficult against a strong team. We created plenty of chances versus Southampton. We are not panicking."