“Arsenal has been getting ready for the Man City game since pre-season,” Arteta says

Arsenal plays their third straight away game this weekend, this time against winners Manchester City in the Premier League. Manager Mikel Arteta said his team had been practicing for the match since pre-season.

Last weekend, Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur away in a north London derby. On Thursday, they went to Bergamo and tied Atalanta 0–0 in the Champions League. Not much time to rest, though, because City is coming up next weekend.

In the last two seasons, Pep Guardiola’s team just beat Arsenal to win the title. After four games, the two teams are still tied for first place in the league, with City two points ahead.

This is something we’ve been getting ready for since preseason. “Of course, we knew the schedule, and we know that it’s very unusual to have three big away games in six days,” Arteta said.

“But it was what it was, so we were mentally, physically, and tactically ready for it.”

“We’re making sure that everyone is ready for it because we’re going to need them, especially with the injuries that we had from the international break.”

The captain of Arsenal, Martin Odegaard, is still out with an ankle injury he got while playing for Norway, and Arteta doesn’t know when the player will be able to return.

“We need to see the development in the next week or so, how the ankle reacts first of all and then the staff will give me an update on the time frame and how long he’ll be out for,” said the Spaniard.

Arteta also said that there were no new injuries after the draw at Atalanta. However, he said that City had hoped for an extra day of rest after their Wednesday draw at home against Inter Milan.

“We wanted the same as them, we’re not getting it, so we have to adapt and make the most of the time that we have today and tomorrow and on the morning of the match to prepare in the best way to go there and win the game,” said he.

Even though City has beaten Arsenal before, Arteta’s team has won just one of their last three games against them in all competitions, in April 2023.

Arsenal has a great away record in 2024, too. They only lost points in a 0-0 draw at City last season, and Arteta said he thought the game would be close at The Etihad Stadium.

“We go to the home of the champions, the team that I think in Premier League history has been the most consistent ever, not only in terms of results but in terms of dominance and consistent top performances,” said he.

“This is the test.” We need to show them that we’ve increased our level of skill and can now fight.