All eyes are on Villa Park on Saturday evening as we look to stay at the top of the Premier League table against third-placed Aston Villa.
Unai Emery’s side have had a fantastic season so far, claiming 32 points from 15 games, and find themselves two points ahead of Manchester City after their 1-0 win over Pep Guardiola’s side on Wednesday.
“Huge credit to them, huge credit to Unai and the coaching staff for what they’ve done,” Mikel Arteta said in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
“They’ve turned things around, the way they play, they’re going to be a really tough opponent. It’s a great place to go, one of my favourite grounds, a very English ground and a great atmosphere to play football in, so it’s going to be a big chance for us.
“It shows the quality of the league. Last year there were others and it shows the competitiveness and difficulty to be up there but they fully merit where they are.”
On the win against City, Mikel added: “Tactically they are really well set up, they do two or three different things, they are really brave to play from the back.
“They really attack you because they have players between the lines that can really hurt you; they have players in open spaces that are constantly threatening you. But not only that, the spirit that they have created, the atmosphere, the intensity, and the belief that they have at the moment that they can go on and beat anybody.”
Since Unai Emery took over at Villa, the club has risen from fighting relegation to competing in the UEFA Europa League, but his success comes as no surprise to his fellow Basque boss, Mikel.
“I’ve followed him since he was in Almeria,” he said. “What he’s done to every team has been always remarkable. He always improves the players, the team, the club and he’s Basque, like I am, and he’s a manager that I really admire for what he’s done in the game. He’s done it in various countries in different levels and always been successful, so I’m really happy for him.
“I think he’s the most experienced and the most successful [of Basque managers] by quite a long distance for everything that he has achieved in the game, and what he’s won. So obviously I admire him yes.”
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
