Before this weekend’s matchup with reigning champions Manchester City, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta shared his opinions on the Premier League title fight this season. The Gunners challenged City all the way through the previous season, and they will be hoping to do the same this time around.
For the most of the previous season, the north Londoners were in the lead and looked like they would finally end their league title drought. They lost to Pep Guardiola, a serial champion, due to a late collapse, but they have no intention of giving up the chase for the top spot any time soon.
In order to take the team to the next level, more than £200 million was invested in it. Their first few games have gone well enough. Arsenal is now unbeaten in the league, and their five victories and two draws maintain them one point behind Man City.
A victory for any of the two title contenders might give them a tiny advantage moving forward in their weekend head-to-head matchup. During the press conference prior to the game, Guardiola discussed the Gunners, saying: “They [Arsenal] are a good team, second they make man marking occasionally, allow you to do some process, but after they are extremely aggressive. They have a strong team and a defined strategy.
“They battled to become champions, and now they’re back. Arsenal has returned. When I was a little lad and at Barcelona, Arsenal was always around, and I witnessed them engaging in combat with Sir Alex Ferguson’s squads. Now, though, they have returned. Going to the Emirates is one of the hardest ones when you look at the schedule.
Arteta, who served as Guardiola’s assistant manager at City, is getting ready for yet another get-together, but he will be hoping that this one goes better than their past league encounters. The Spaniard responded, “We are not looking that far, that much is certain,” when asked if the outcome will affect the title chase. We will need to perform at the highest level, that much is certain.
There is still a long way to go before the end of the season to determine whether this game will directly affect the race for the championship.