Mikel Arteta knows exactly how much of a boost a win over Manchester City could be in Sunday’s game at Emirates Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s side are currently fourth place and six points behind us in the Premier League, as we look to close the six-point gap on Liverpool.
But a win wouldn’t just be about another three points in the title race. It would also be a great way to respond to the nature of our 2-2 draw at Etihad Stadium earlier in the season.
“The business is to be better than them,” Mikel said in his pre-match press conference at Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday. “That’s it. The only thing I review is what happened during that match, how competitive it gets is normal when two big teams want to win the game.
“[Winning] would be a big boost for us. Winning big matches is always something special. Every time we play a big match against one of our big rivals it brings something extra - the confidence, the emotion, the fact that they are there and continue to win - for that we want to achieve.”
On how confident we are about getting the job done at home, Mikel provided a short but sweet message to our supporters.
“With 11 men and 60,000 on every ball, right behind us pushing. Bring the energy, that’s what we want.”
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