Arsene Wenger is under no illusions that his Arsenal side were not good enough against Crystal Palace and believes his side must make life harder for the opposition.

The 3-0 loss on Monday night was Arsenal’s fourth consecutive league defeat away from home, with the Gunners conceding three goals in each of those matches.

It leaves them in sixth place, seven points adrift of Manchester City and a Champions League qualification spot, a position that is looking increasingly out of reach.

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Wenger has never finished outside of the top four in his time at Arsenal but they now travel to relegation battlers Middlesbrough on Monday night with victory vital to their qualification hopes.

And the Frenchman knows his side needs to do better, criticising the performance at Selhurst Park.

Wenger said: “I’m deeply disappointed because the performance we produced was not good enough.

“We knew we had to win the game. Not only did we not score but as well we conceded three goals, so overall it’s a very disappointing performance.

“What disappointed me most was the fact that we lost decisive duels in zones where you cannot afford it. That was very disappointing.

“Palace have beaten Chelsea two weeks ago, and they beat us, so that shows they have the quality. They are good going forward.

“But I think we made it easy for them. They didn’t need that, they have enough quality to beat any team and they have been winning for a while.”

Real Madrid striker Alvaro Morata revealed he discussed a potential move to Tottenham with boss Mauricio Pochettino last summer before re-joining Los Blancos.

Morata left Madrid for Juventus in 2014 and shone for them during his two years stint in Serie A – scoring 27 goals in total – leading to plenty of interest from leading European clubs to sign the impressive Spaniard.

But Real Madrid triggered a £23million buy-back clause to dispel any hope of prising the coveted star away from the Spanish capital.

And Morata revealed that he spoke directly to Pochettino – as well as Chelsea boss Antonio Conte – as they both tried to convince him to play in the Premier League.

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“Various Premier League coaches called to tell me to play for them,” said Morata.

“I said yeah, I’d like to, that if I had to leave I would almost certainly go to London, but that I didn’t know what Madrid would do.

“I knew they’d bring me back but I didn’t know if it was to keep me or sell me.

“I spoke directly to Mauricio Pochettino and Antonio Conte, although the norm is clubs call my dad or agent. Madrid said they didn’t want to sell, so here I am.”

Nemanja Vidic is confident Jose Mourinho is the right man to restore the glory days at Manchester United, even though this campaign has been underwhelming.

United’s hopes of competing in the Champions League next season seem more likely to be determined by their Europa League campaign – with the winners guaranteed entry next season.

They trail Manchester City by four points in the race for the top four, with a series of tricky fixtures to come before the season is out.

Mourinho has faced criticism during his maiden campaign as United boss but former captain Vidic is adamant the Portuguese will get things right.

“We are not in the position we would like to be of course but we are fighting for the Champions League,” said Vidic.

“Before the season you always think United should compete for the title but it is not easy.

“Mourinho came and brought in four players, but to build a winning team you need time, six months is not enough, but I do believe the team is growing.

“Mourinho has been in charge of big teams and won trophies in different countries so he has experience and I believe he knows what he is doing.

“I am looking forward to next season. But this season realistically if we can get Champions League and the cup we won already then we have to be satisfied this year.”

Burnley defender Matt Lowton believes the Clarets have come a long way since winning promotion back to the Premier League, as they move closer towards survival.

Burnley are eight points clear of the relegation zone and look set to survive in the top flight for the first time since 1975, after their previous two spells in the Premier League ended following just one season.

Sean Dyche’s side have done so despite not having won away from home this campaign, with their superb form at Turf Moor keeping them away from trouble.

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Lowton, who has helped the Clarets to 12th place in the table said: “Being in the Premier League in two of the last three seasons has helped as a club and the signings we have made have strengthened the team that won the Championship, so we are going from strength to strength and hopefully we can keep going.

“There’s no reason why we can’t be in and around a mid-table position and set our stall out, hopefully, for the next couple of years, at least, in the Premier League.”

Two late clearances off the line by Lowton allowed Burnley to claim a 0-0 draw at Middlesbrough last weekend, which helped maintain the gap between the Clarets and the bottom three.

“They are fighting for their lives so they put it on us a bit late on,” Lowton said. “But I thought we created a few chances ourselves and a point is obviously a lot better for us at this stage.”

Everton midfielder Ross Barkley has praised the impact the club’s youngsters have made this season, as Ronald Koeman’s side aim for a top-six finish in the Premier League.

Eighteen-year-old Tom Davies opened the scoring after 30 seconds in the Toffees’ 4-2 victory over Leicester City on Sunday, which also saw fellow academy graduates Mason Holgate and Matthew Pennington feature.

Players purchased, such as Ademola Lookman and Dominic Calvert-Lewin, have also demonstrated that the future looks bright at Goodison Park, – with the Everton of the present finishing their campaign strongly.

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Their win over the Foxes was their seventh in a row at home and after Arsenal’s defeat at Crystal Palace on Monday, they are now behind the sixth-placed Gunners only on goal difference.

Barkley said: “They have been a breath of fresh air joining in with the lads. Early on in the season they were joining in training and they have gained confidence from being around us on a day-to-day basis.

“I know exactly what it’s like from being in that position. When you are younger you don’t have any fear and you just want to enjoy your football, exactly like you do with the Under-23s or youth teams.

“You just follow that through and learn from playing games, which they are doing in a short space of time. You can see the progression they have made since their debuts.

“Our main aim is to get in the top six – it is going to be difficult but nothing is impossible.”

Deportivo Maldonado loanee Jonathan Calleri is determined to help West Ham end a testing season on a high and revealed that the Hammers’ upcoming clash with Sunderland this weekend may not be as easy as some fans might think.

The Argentine replaced Michail Antonio in the first half against Swansea at the weekend, after the England international injured his hamstring in a sprint down the left wing.

With Antonio still doubtful for Saturday’s fixture, Calleri looks to enter the squad and after coming close to a goal against Swansea the 23-year-old will be looking to get on the score sheet.

His first and only goal for West Ham came in their 3-1 win over Middlesbrough in January, and he has made only 11 appearances for the Hammers this season.

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“I think it was a good game, I can give a lot more but it is the beginning of something good,” said Calleri.

“We have six games left. As a player, I always try to do my best in order to play all the games.

“Saturday could be a chance for me to start the game and, if I do, I will try to do my best to be manager’s first choice to play.

“People might expect us to win at Sunderland, but it will be a difficult game. It is again the last team of the table and they have to win, so I expect them to give it everything to beat us.”

Following Crystal Palace’s vital 3-0 win over Arsenal this week, Eagles defender Martin Kelly has highlighted the importance of keeping a clean sheet and how Palace have to focus on the basics.

The 26-year-old also gave an insight into how manager Sam Allardyce had been keen to tighten the Palace backline right from his arrival at Selhurst Park late last year.

Kelly made ten successful clearances in Monday night’s game against the Gunners, the most from any player on the pitch.

“I think the basics the manager always goes on about in the meetings is having its effect now, he’s drilled the basics into us from when he came in,” Kelly said.

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“I think us doing that on a game-to-game basis and then letting our flair players as such, do their thing is working at the minute.

“We want to get as many [points] as possible, a team like Palace with the signings the chairman, previous manager and Sam [Allardyce] has brought in, we shouldn’t be in the relegation battle.

“We know that the Premier League is a tough one, so we want to win as many as possible and certainly get the clean sheets. That’s what the manager has been trying to drill in to us.”

With Liverpool’s top four fate very much in their own hands; James Milner is determined not to get distracted by the results of teams around them.

Arsenal’s surprise 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace means they are seven points behind fourth-placed Manchester City, with a game in hand.

Liverpool have played two games more than the Gunners but do sit nine points ahead of their rivals as the race for the Champions League spots continues.

But Milner is confident that the characteristics are there in the Liverpool dressing room to enable them to reach their target of qualification for Europe’s elite club competition.

“The position we are in means it is irrelevant what other teams think and do,” said Milner.

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“We know that if we do the business in our remaining games, it will be good enough I am sure. It is down to us.

“We don’t want to get side-tracked or have to worry about other results. Hopefully we can take care of business ourselves.

“One thing that can never be thrown at this squad is that we lack desire and a will to win and the attitude to come back again.

“We have done it many times and that belief to keep going and get three points is there.”

It may have been their second 0-0 draw in just four Premier League games, but Burnley boss Sean Dyche was pleased with the strength shown by his players in their stalemate with Middlesbrough this weekend.

His side have bounced back from a run of eight games without a win by beating Stoke 1-0 and then drawing with struggling Boro.

And despite failing to find the net, Dyche was pleased with the point that saw his side move up to 12th and eight points clear of the relegation zone, with just six games to play.

“We’ve been a bit stronger this year because of the base that we put in two years ago to the club,” he said.

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“You can never guarantee it until it’s done. I think our focus is on every game as it comes, we’ve maintained that with the players, it was a big week this week with three games and to pull four points out of that is pleasing.

“There’s still more work to be done because you want to take care of your own business, and we’ve given ourselves a good base position to do that.

“The focus now is on taking each game as it comes, staying on the front foot, and trying to take on every team that we play against.”

Sunderland striker Victor Anichebe has admitted his side just were not good enough in the first half of their 3-0 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.

The defeat left the Black Cats languishing ten points from safety with just seven Premier League games left to play.

However, with West Ham, Middlesbrough, Bournemouth, Hull and Swansea still left to play this season, David Moyes’ side still have hope of producing a miracle and avoiding the drop.

Anichebe, however, has admitted they must improve if they are to get out of their current plight.

“It was a difficult game and obviously the sending off [of Sebastian Larsson] didn’t help us, but in the first 20 minutes I thought we were poor and we didn’t get up to them,” said the 28-year-old who has scored just three times this season.

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“We gave them a bit too much respect and, because of the position we’re in, I think anxiety and fear was in our performance at times.

“I think we’re all disappointed because it [the first goal] was far too easy.

“Zlatan, coming in and turning onto his right, it’s obvious what he’s going to do, but at the moment we’re just not getting there at the right times and that’s the position we’re in.

“It was a difficult result but we still have games to go so we have to keep going and keep plugging away, and turn things around to give the fans something to cheer about.”