Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech has called on his forwards to keep scoring in numbers, saying goal difference could prove crucial in separating the many Premier League title contenders.
Arsenal beat Swansea 4-0 on Saturday to stay eight points behind leaders Chelsea and pull within one point of third-place Liverpool. And Cech said he was pleased to see the team continue to push forward even after going 2-0 up in the second half.
"Every time you can score more goals you should try to do so," Cech told reporters. "That is because every goal will be important when you see how tight it is in the top five places. Every goal might count so we try to make sure, when we can, to continue to search for more goals and we wanted to make sure that at 3-0 and 4-0 we didn't concede."
While Chelsea have a fairly comfortable seven-point lead, just five points separate second-place Tottenham and sixth-place Manchester United after 21 matches. Only Chelsea (30) and Spurs (29) have a better goal difference than Arsenal (26) after this weekend's games.
The Gunners have been left ruing their many dropped points in recent weeks following losses to Everton and Manchester City and a 3-3 draw at Bournemouth, but Cech said there is still a chance to put pressure on Chelsea. Arsenal travel to Stamford Bridge on Feb. 4 and still have to face all their other title rivals once as well.
"You have to carry on, get ready and there are a lot of games to be played," Cech said. "We have to play everybody who is around us, so we can take points from them. So we are in a good position."