Arsenal's season is on the line over the next week, says Sokratis.

After Saturday's teatime shoot-out with Chelsea , where defeat would probably leave Unai Emery's side nine points off the top four, the Gunners host Manchester United in a Friday night FA Cup fourth round tie.

Twin defeats would leave Emery's first season at the Emirates in ruins before the end of January, with his specialty the Europa League the only trophy left to chase, and Sokratis admitted: “We have to win both of them.

“If we want to be up there, we have to win. I believe in my team, but we have to play much better.

“If you lose some games, of course you lose confidence, but I don't think confidence is the problem. The problem is that we have to work harder in the next games and be more competitive.

“It's not about having only two shots on target [at West Ham ] – look at how many chances we would have had if we had done better with the last pass. We did not control the game better than them, we did not create chances or finish them off, we did not score and we paid for one mistake. It was expensive."