Papastathopoulos positive about Arsenal top four hopes this season

Arsenal defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos believes the Gunners are still in the running for the top four despite their average run of form. The north London side have failed to win any of the previous four league games and that has dropped them eight points behind Manchester City, who are currently occupying the final Champions League qualification spot.
Speaking to Arsenal TV, Sokratis said that the team are currently lacking confidence but they can easily rejuvenate themselves with a couple of league wins on the bounce, he told: “The team needs confidence and calm to show the quality we have. This will give confidence also. I think we can get [into the top four] because if we find one or two games where we can play very good and have a good result, after the team will take confidence and after that we have the quality.”
The Gunners have a friendly schedule after the international break with games against the likes of Southampton, Norwich City, Brighton, and West Ham United. On paper, they are genuine favourites for each of those matches but based on the recent fortunes, it won’t come as a surprise, if they drop points during the run.
Meanwhile, the future of manager Unai Emery remains under scrutiny after the recent run of form and reports have emerged that he could be sacked if the results fail to improve over the next few weeks. The Gunners have managed just two points from the past four league games and they will be hoping to end the winless run when Southampton make the trip to the Emirates.
The South Coast outfit are currently languishing in the drop zone after 13 games but the Gunners can take anything for granted, given their opponents took three points out of them during the previous league campaign.