'They're fighting for their lives'

Mikel Arteta has warned his side that they "better be ready" to face an Aston Villa side that is "fighting for their lives".

Tuesday night's opponents are in the relegation zone with two games to go, and our head coach expects them to throw everything at us at Villa Park.

 

"They have a massive urgency because they probably have to win both games to have a chance to survive," Arteta said. "When you are in that situation you are fighting for your life, so they are going to give absolutely everything.

 

"In my opinion, they have been very unlucky in a lot of games. It's a team that wants to play football, that makes it really difficult for their opponent when they have the ball.

 

"I think the fans not being in the ground, which is one of my favourites in England, is a big disadvantage for them. We really need to be careful that they are alive and you can see that in the last few games that I've watched of them. We better be ready.

 

"We have to be in the same mood [as them]. We still have to win both games and wait to have a chance to qualify for Europe and that's the mood that I want from everybody involved.

 

"It's not in our hands at the moment and we knew that was going to be difficult, but we need to give it a go and try to win both games and then wait and see what happens. If we do that, I think we will have a good chance."