The Gunners held off a late Tottenham rally to claim a 3-2 win in Sunday's (28.04.24) match and maintain their advantage over Manchester City at the top of the league and Arteta believes that the resilience of his team in tough circumstances demonstrates that they have learnt from last season's collapse.

Asked if his players were better placed to win the league this term, he said: "I think so.

"When you win it’s always the case. Last season we didn’t because we went to West Ham and we missed a penalty and against Liverpool we conceded in the 91st minute and then you’re not capable.

"At the end the judgement is going to be based on that outcome. If they got the goal in the last minute to make it 3-3 then we say, ‘Wouldn’t have been ready’."

Arsenal have three matches remaining - although their title fate is out of their hands - and Arteta warned his players not to get "carried away" as they face a challenging fixture against Bournemouth next week.

He said: "The margins are so small. Don’t get carried away with yourself. We want to be better. There are margins for improvement. Go again against Bournemouth because it’s going to be really tough."

Arteta confessed that he was "praying" in the closing moments of the derby as Spurs desperately tried to find an equaliser.

He said: "I was praying. There were so many Spurs players in the box. It was a really emotional game. We had to dig in and suffer and react. I’m very pleased with the way the team has done it."