Kieran Tierney reveals Arsenal’s “addiction” behind rise to Premier League summit

Arsenal have won all but one of their first 10 Premier League matches this season to boast a four-point lead at the top of the table ahead of this weekend’s clash with Southampton

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Mikel Arteta previews Southampton clash

Kieran Tierney reckons Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side have become addicted to winning after a Gabriel Jesus-shaped injection of hunger in the summer.

The Gunners sit four points clear of defending champions Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table with nine wins from 10 games. And on Thursday they secured qualification to the knockout phase of the Europa League with their fourth win from four in Group A.

They are winning games in style and winning games ugly, and left-back Tierney loves the head of steam they have been building. He said: “We want to keep winning, 100 per cent.

“Winning builds momentum, whether it’s the Europa League, whether it’s a friendly, whether it’s the Carabao Cup, which is coming, we just want to keep winning. Winning becomes a habit, it’s something you’re addicted to, you love the feeling of it and we’re just looking to keep it going.

“We go into every game believing that we can win and why not? It actually started in pre-season when we won all the games. I was obviously injured but you could feel it after Chelsea over in America.

“There was a good buzz about us, we scored a few goals and it just kind of continued on from there. It has been a great start to the season so far.”

The arrivals of Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City in the summer have taken Arsenal ’s squad to a new level. And the form 25-year-old Jesus has shown in particular has been a major focal point for team-mates and fans alike.

Kieran Tierney chats with Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta (

Image:

DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Tierney added: “He’s amazing, honestly he’s one of the best if not the best I’ve played with and in training as well. He adds so much to us. He has so much experience as well.

“He is still young but he has been there and done it, he has won the league and knows what it takes. So to have someone like that come into your changing room is amazing for us.”

Put to him that Jesus, who was very much the understudy to Sergio Aguero at the Etihad, is relishing being the main man at Arsenal, Tierney said: “Yes, and I can see the way he defends as well. He defends with his heart.

“That’s where the defence starts from, up top, so if you have a striker willing to do that — and we have two, him and Eddie Nketiah are the most hard-working strikers I’ve ever been around — from the top of the pitch it just helps the midfielders and defenders so much. “He 100 per cent plays and trains like that.

“He just has this inner-drive and hunger. He wants to win everything. It doesn’t matter what you’re playing, even if it’s head tennis in training, he is fighting for every point, and that’s the kind of mentality you have to have to win stuff as well.”

Tierney admits he’s not jostling for position with Jesus in the head tennis hierarchy at Arsenal’s training ground. Laughing, he added: “The Brazilians always win. I stay away from that. They love it. They play it all the time, after training, in the dressing room and all that. That’s their game.”