Arsenal shot-stopper Bernd Leno believes that the Gunners should focus on kicking off another lengthy unbeaten run by putting rivals Tottenham Hotspur to the sword in the EFL Cup this week.
Unai Emery’s men were handed a 3-2 defeat by Southampton at St Mary’s Stadium on Sunday in a result that put an end to their 22-game unbeaten streak across all competitions.
The Gunners went behind twice in the first half through goals from Danny Ings, but a brace from Henrikh Mkhitaryan, either side of the interval, helped restore parity for the visitors.
However, Charlie Austin pounced on a late opportunity in the 85th minute to snatch the winner for the Saints as Ralph Hasenhuttl registered his first win as manager in England’s top flight.
Leno, who made the error that helped Austin score the winning header on Sunday, believes that Arsenal need to look forward and could even mark the beginning of another unbeaten run starting with a win over Spurs on Wednesday.
The German also admitted that the EFL Cup clash against Spurs is a huge game and added that the unbeaten run must be forgotten.
“After 22 games you can lose a game, so it is disappointing, but now nobody talks anymore about the unbeaten run and we can look forward”, Leno told the club’s official website.
“We have Spurs on Wednesday – another big game – and maybe now we can start another unbeaten run.”
Leno, who joined Arsenal from Bayer Leverkusen in the summer, has notched up 11 appearances in the Premier League since making his debut against Watford in September.
