Alexis Sanchez: Arsenal lacks 'self-belief' to be Premier League champion

Alexis Sanchez is out of form and out of self-belief.

In conversation with DIRECTV Sports, Sanchez didn't hesitate to admit that Arsenal lacks the confidence to win its first Premier League title since 2003-04, saying that the Gunners possess the quality to do so but "lack a certain hunger."

Arsenal's 2-1 defeat to Swansea City at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday left the north London club five points back of top-of-the-standings Leicester City, and the result was viewed as another instance in which Arsene Wenger's side, for all its talent and wealth, wrote the same old story yet found a fresh way to fail.

"We lack self-belief, that we can actually be champions," Sanchez said, according to the Press Association. "I think we can win the Premier League with the players we have. That said, we lack a certain hunger. We need to step out on to the pitch as if we're already 1-0 up.

"I remember a game against Manchester United last year. The lads looked hungry for silverware as we took to the pitch. We crushed them in the first 20 minutes and went 3-0 up. We were hungry and brimming with confidence that day."

While Sanchez did assist Joel Campbell's goal against Swansea, the Chilean attacking midfielder failed to make much of an impact in the fixture, suggesting once again that he is running out of gas.

Sanchez wasn't able to rest during the summer last due to the Copa America, and a hamstring injury kept him from taking the pitch for seven weeks before he returned in January.