Granit Xhaka has become the first Arsenal player to admit they are aiming to go into the World Cup break on top of the Premier League - and the midfielder said he has no fears of injury by playing every game before going to Qatar.
Mikel Arteta’s side eight-match winning run has taken them five points clear at the top of their Europa League group - and four points ahead of champions Manchester at home. The Gunners have only four Premier League matches before the World Cup, starting with a trip to Southampton on Sunday.
Asked if being top is now the aim to be still top when the domestic competition pauses on November 13, Xhaka said: “It has to be. When you are there you have to be there as long as possible in this place.
"I think if we have the chance to stay there where we are at the moment and the World Cup comes, maybe it is a good break for everyone, maybe for us as well, to prepare something else for January.”
Xhaka, 30, has played all 14 matches for Arsenal this season and only not started in last week’s win at FK Bodo/Glimt. He still came on to play the final half an hour. Reece James and Diogo Jota have both recently suffered injuries to rule them out of the World Cup which starts on November 20.
Arsenal have seven more matches before then in a truncated programme. But Xhaka, who scored the winner against PSV Eindhoven, said: I was never thinking like this, I will never think like this when I go on the pitch. This is football, it can happen in one second. I had the same against Spurs when I did my MCL (medial collateral ligament). It was unlucky as well. You have to put your foot in when it is a 50/50 ball. And me, my personality, the people who know me, I will never back out of that.
“I am not worried about this because the staff, the coach, they know how I am physically, how I look after myself. It is not the first time I am doing this [amount of] games in a row. So I am feeling very good. Of course, every time you win it makes it a little bit easier, but yeah I am not worried about the minutes, or the World Cup, or the future.”
Asked about his fitness, Xhaka smiled: It’s a secret! No, I am joking. Listen, I am 30 years old, I know my body better than before for sure. When you are young, you are different, you think different. When you are 30 you know your body, you know exactly what you need more of and what not. Of course you have your private people around helping you with everything, with the food, with the recovery and stuff like this. At the moment everything is working well.
“I don’t think it’s about my games at the moment, I’ve been here seven years and my numbers speak for themselves. The numbers I’ve got for this football club, how many games I have had in seven years. I calculated maybe two years ago that I’m playing 45 games a season.
"It’s a number I had always in the past as well. Really I’m not thinking about a break. Mikel is the boss, he decides when to take me out and when not to. He did against Bodo, it was maybe perfect timing to give me a bit of a rest. Games like this, everyone wants to play.”
