Arsene Wenger: Manchester City have 'advantage' over Arsenal for Premier League clash after EFL Cup Final win

Arsene Wenger acknowledged that Arsenal’s woes at the hands of Manchester City might only mount on Thursday as they prepare to face off against their EFL Cup conquerors in the Premier League.

Arsenal face City in the Premier League on Thursday, when the wounds of the 3-0 mauling they suffered at their hands at Wembley on Sunday will be far from healed.

The Gunners were second-best throughout the match, managing an adequate rearguard for all of 18 minutes before Shkodran Mustafi allowed Sergio Aguero to waltz in behind and lob the league leaders into a lead that would eventually be added to by Vincent Kompany and David Silva in the second half.

It was a result that offered a stark reminder of why City are 27 points ahead of Arsenal having played as many games in the Premier League.

The Gunners boss admitted that his side’s hopes of trimming the game had hardly been aided by the rout they had just suffered.

“It doesn’t help,” Wenger said of another game against Pep Guardiola’s league leaders. “They will be on a high and we still have to recover from a disappointment.

“On that front they have the advantage.”

With a 10 point gap to fourth-placed Tottenham and the FA Cup long since gone, Arsenal’s season appears to have boiled down to a bid to win the Europa League and in so doing scrabble back into the Champions League.

Arsenal face a not-inconsiderable test in the form of AC Milan in the last 16 but Wenger insisted there was more to the coming months than European competition.

Asked what he needed to do to save the season Wenger was abrupt: “We have to win the next game.”

He added: “We have to prioritise the next game first before we can speak about the Europa League. We will of course take it very seriously but we have as well to win big games.

“If you want to go far in the Europa League you have to win big games. If you look at the opponents there are many big teams. We already have to play one.”