Mikel Arteta, the manager of Arsenal, claimed they were aware that Manchester City and Liverpool would be title challengers. He claims the team knew about this even before the season began.
Despite having played two more games than Manchester City, Arsenal enters the match five points ahead of Pep Guardiola’s team. They have already been defeated twice by Manchester City this season, once in the league and once in the FA Cup. A third defeat would give the defending champions the advantage in the fight for the title.
Arteta, who was once an assistant coach for City and is now in charge of Arsenal, told the press this morning that
“100% we knew from the beginning that City was the team to beat with Liverpool because of what those teams have done.”
Arsenal has failed to win their last Premier League games against Liverpool, West Ham, and Southampton.
“We wanted to close that gap as much as we could and we’re toe-to-toe with them.
“We knew we had to go to the Etihad. Is it going to define the season? The answer is no.
“The biggest game is the next one. The biggest game of my career would have been Southampton.”
A win for Arsenal will restore their hope of winning the title this season, the first time since 2004.
