Mikel Arteta has his heart set on one objective only – win at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
We go into this huge Premier League fixture away to Manchester City six points clear at the top of the table so, while a draw would prevent Pep Guardiola’s side from closing the gap on us, the opportunity to go nine points clear is an irresistible prospect.
That’s the point our manager made in his pre-match press conference at the Sobha Realty Training Centre on Friday, where he refused to entertain the idea of settling for a point apiece.
“We have earned the right to be in this position, to be challenging and with the possibility to win and the opportunity to win on Sunday, arguably against the best team and the best manager that this league has ever seen,” he said. “That’s a huge privilege, and we cannot wait to play the game. We’re going to prepare the game to win it, that’s for sure, and we see that as a big opportunity for us.
“We’re not going to spend one second talking about that (drawing). We prepare every game to win, that’s where we are and we’re going to continue to do the same.”
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Mikel was then asked about how important our mindset and mentality is going to be for such a significant game in the title race.
“I mean, our team has to give us every tool, every element that we need to go and win it,” he said. “We will have a very, very strong opponent; we know that in front of us. We’ve been doing it for nine months in every context, we have played a lot of games against them, and we know what we have to do.
“I think (mentality is) a big part of that. I mean, everything plays a part in a match. Technique as well, obviously, because without that there is nothing. But there is obviously a huge part to play in that sense and we have improved a lot in that area. We will have to show it on Sunday again, that’s for sure.”
In Guardiola’s pre-match press conference, the Man City manager insisted that the title race is over for them should we come away from Manchester with all three points.
“I know there are six games to go,” Mikel responded. “Obviously it’s a really important one for both teams and it will incline the balance a little bit. Winning a game in the Premier League is so tough for everybody, so after this one there will be still some very difficult matches for all of us and we’ll have to wait and continue to see what happens.
“I think that (tension) has to be the vitamin for everybody. In whatever we do, that’s going to be what elevates us to be better and to strive to be better, to have more hunger, more desire to do it but never in a negative way.”
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