There are only five days to go until Arsenal return to action up at the Etihad and there is excitement building, although it is going to be a completely different atmosphere compared to the games before the pandemic hit the world.
It is going to be a big day for Mikel Arteta as well, as he is returning to face his old mentor at Man City, Pep Guardiola, for the first time since accepting the Gunners contract.
Arteta told the Sky Football Show (as quoted in the Metro): “It is going to be strange, I can’t deny that, I know everyone there, I spent four magnificent years with those players.
“I am really excited as well, I can’t wait to start competing again in the way we love the most and that is to play football.
“It is going to be very special for me but I am looking forward.”
Special or not, Arteta will be keen to continue our unbeaten run that we clocked up before the shutdown, and it certainly won’t be easy at the home of the reigning Champions, but our new boss is hoping that the Gunners are even better now than they were before the lockdown. He added: ‘The ambition in this period, as I’ve said before, is to be a better team than we were before. In that moment we were on a really good run before we stopped for the coronavirus.
‘I want to go day-by-day with this team and game after game be competitive in every game and go to any stadium and try to win. This has to be us. That’s the way I feel and the way I believe is the best way to approach every game.’
One thing that may help is the absence of passionate Man City fans at the Etihad, and it has been proven that home advantage is much less pronounced without the Twelfth Man and should improve Arsenal’s chances of getting something from the visit to Manchester. Arteta said in the Express: “I hope it is and we’ve seen we have got a good thing to measure what is happening with the Bundesliga at the moment.
“So it is going to help. Football is passion and energy, and when you lose that things balance much more, in my opinion.
“But I know how strong they (Manchester City) are, I know what they are able to do if they are all switched on on the day.
“So we have to be really well prepared to try and go there and win the game.”
So the stage has been set, the build-up has begun, and now we begin the nerve-wracking wait to see how the Gunners continue our campaign. Could Arteta still end this season with Glory?
Man city need no fans with the quality they have,its going to be a tough fixture but somewhere in my heart keeps on saying that we are going to win it☺
Mind says no
Heart says yes….
Leno
Bellerin. Luiz Mari. Tierney
Toreira Ceballos
Martinelli Pepe Saka
Aubameyang
Above is the best squad to pick to get a result from the game
Well, it was building and then we lost to Brentford 🤦♀️
Be nice to see the bromance again (Pep and Mikel) at a distance… and it’ll be even better to see the team back in action! I’ll be happy with a hard fought draw COYG
I have a feeling that we will win this match. We are getting all 3 points.
🙏🙂
We stand a decent chance for a draw if Mustafi, Luiz/Socrates do not make it, Xhaka and Ozil do not make it as well.We have the skills in Tierney, Saka, Auba, Gabreil and work ethics of Guendozi, Laca (he needs to remember where the goal posts are located), calmness of AMN and Marri. Hope Mikel is serious about the game and chooses to keep the the famous five (Ozil, Xhaka, Luiz,Socrates, Mustafi) at home for some rest after being tired doing the training and we as fans can enjoy the game rather than hoping a horror/sorrow show is not repeated.
Excuse me did u just say ” we stand a decent chance for a draw”? That is a mediocre statement. why cant we go there and win or has Man city suddenly become invincible.
Hoping for a decent win at the Etihad……
Anthony Taylor is refereeing on Wednesday… I wonder if we’ll finish with 11 men?
Golden boot… Vardy 19, Auba 17, Aguero/Salah 16….
Auba hasn’t scored against City and I’ve lost count of how many times Aguero has hit the back of our net!!
Hmmm, interesting……
Arsenal becomes a pvssy when playing against Pep, its very frustrating. Just check our h2h since Pep’s appointment at Mancity… Terrible. Mancity arnt as outstanding or crazy as they were in there record breaking season… Infact every single one of the remaining Big Four have beaten them at least once… Even C.P, Newcastle, relegation destined Norwich have claimed all 3 points at one point. Wolves went a step further and did a double this season… But Arsenal? Nope… They open up the skirts and give Mancity the easiest ride ever… We cannot resort to brute force when we’ve been outclassed tacticslly in a game bcos we have such weak players… Remembering how they played us at home this season ruins my day.
I’m really hoping Arteta does get something out of this team, but the squad doesn’t give you any hope at all…