Mikel Arteta has urged spluttering Arsenal to embrace the “huge privilege” of facing Manchester City in a potentially decisive showdown in the Premier League title race.
Arteta’s side are six points clear of second-placed City ahead of their blockbuster clash at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
But City have a game in hand on the Gunners and a victory for Pep Guardiola’s men would tilt the balance of power in their favour heading into the final weeks of the season.
Adding to the drama of the do-or-die battle, Arsenal are enduring an untimely loss of form after losing three of their last five games in all competitions.
They were beaten by City in the League Cup final, suffered a shock FA Cup quarterfinal exit at second-tier Southampton and slumped to a home league defeat against Bournemouth.
The Gunners were well below their best once again on Wednesday when they edged past Sporting Lisbon, drawing 0-0 to secure a 1-0 aggregate victory in the Champions League quarterfinals.
But, despite criticism of Arsenal’s perceived mental weakness under pressure, Arteta is convinced his players have the right character to take a huge step towards winning the Premier League.
“We have earned the right to be in this position and to be challenging, with an opportunity to win against arguably the best team and best manager this league has ever seen,” Arteta told reporters on Friday.
“That is a huge privilege. We see this as a big opportunity for us. Who is more privileged to be in this position?
“I don’t know how Pep and Man City are feeling, but I feel very privileged to have earned the right to be in this position to play such a big and great game.”
Arsenal are chasing a first English title since 2004 after finishing as runners-up for the last three seasons.
In 2023 and 2024, they squandered substantial leads that allowed City to pip them to the title.
But Arteta knows that beating City this weekend would put Arsenal in a virtually unassailable position of strength.
“Winning at this stage, then you are a bit closer,” he said.
“There are six games to go. Obviously, it is a really important one for both teams.
“It will incline the balance a little bit, but winning a game in the Premier League is so tough for everybody.”
Arsenal ‘prepare to win’ against Man City
Arteta has challenged Arsenal to learn from the pain of their League Cup loss to City in a rematch with even higher stakes.
“The pain we felt afterwards, [we need] to use that the right way on Sunday,” he said. “To learn from that game and the things that we want to change for the next one.”
Arteta refused to deny a report that a fire was lit at the club’s training ground this week in a motivational ploy after he told his team to play with “pure fire” against Sporting.
“Every game we use different themes to try and prepare for the game in the best possible way, and that depends on what we do,” he said.
“The best ones are the players’ initiative; those are the ones I love the most.”
Arsenal have failed to win any of their past 10 league games at the Etihad Stadium, losing seven of those meetings, in a barren run stretching back to 2015.
Arteta dismissed suggestions that he could tell Arsenal to play for a draw to maintain their six-point lead over City.
“We prepare every game to win, that is why we are where we are, and we are going to continue to do the same,” he said.
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