Mikel Arteta not fazed by ten Hag’s discuss on ref calls from September
Mikel Arteta says his ‘brain is telling me’ that Arsenal will be lifting the Premier League title.
The Gunners face Manchester United in a huge clash this Sunday with Manchester City just one point behind, though Pep Guardiola’s side have a game in hand.
Ahead of the match, he said: ‘My brain tells me when talking to the players that we are lifting the Premier League. That’s what my brain is doing at the moment and I want to follow my brain and my gut.
‘This is the way I want everybody to think as well. Hopefully we can achieve it.’
Fulham, Man City’s opponents this Saturday, were filmed flying kites in training.
Mikel Arteta claims his brain and gut are telling him that Arsenal will win the Premier League
Fulham, Manchester City’s opponents this Saturday, were filmed flying kites in training
Arsenal will hope for a favour from their London neighbours, and Arteta is confident Fulham’s unconventional methods will pay dividends.
‘The power of team bonding, nobody knows what it is, but sometimes you get amazing results with it,’ he said.
‘I’ve been in teams struggling to win a game and we go out for dinner and then you go on an unbelievable run. I’m positive that that’s what’s gonna happen to Fulham.’
He is also not fazed about the galvanising impact Erik ten Hag bringing up refereeing decisions from Arsenal’s victory over Man United in September could have on the United players.
In March, after their FA Cup quarter-final triumph over Liverpool, Erik ten Hag bizarrely referenced their 3-1 defeat to the Gunners — which happened back in September.
Ten Hag had said: ‘For instance, at Arsenal, in the fourth game of the season, in the 87th minute, we should have had a penalty on Rasmus Hojlund.
‘Then we scored with (Alejandro) Garnacho, disallowed and then we conceded a goal which should always have been disallowed. Such moments help you. Every team needs such moments, and we never had that moment and this could be that moment.’
When asked whether Ten Hag bringing up the defeat will motivate the Dutchman’s side, Arteta said: ‘I don’t know, I don’t know how they are feeling about this, but we have enough to think about how we are going to beat them and what we have to be to be better than them.’
Erik Ten Hag believes Man United should have had a penalty for a foul on Rasmus Hojlund
Bukayo Saka is a doubt for Sunday’s trip to Old Trafford, and faces a late fitness test
Bukayo Saka and Takehiro Tomiyasu are doubts for Sunday’s match.
Saka was wearing strapping in training on Thursday, while Tomiyasu was absent. Both face fitness tests later today.
