Arsenal must relish physical aspect of Manchester United battle, says Arteta

Arsenal
hold
a
five-point
advantage
over
Manchester
City
–
who
host
Wolves
on
Sunday
(January
22)
–
at
the
top
of
the
table,
while
they
also
have
a
game
in
hand
over
the
defending
champions.

A
win
over
United
would
represent
a
huge
step
towards
Arsenal’s
fourth
Premier
League
title
triumph
–
and
their
first
since
an
era
in
which
they
routinely
battled
the
Red
Devils
for
major
honours.

Several
meetings
between
Arsene
Wenger’s
Arsenal
and
Alex
Ferguson’s
United
boiled
over
as
the
teams
competed
for
Premier
League
dominance
at
the
turn
of
the
century,
and
Arteta
says
his
men
must
also
relish
the
dirty
work
in
their
quest
for
the
title.

“Having
that
balance
and
having
those
qualities
in
the
squad
is
necessary,”
Arteta
said.
“To
have
the
mentality
and
capacity
to
control
emotions
when
you
play
on
big
stages
is
very
necessary.

“The
physical
aspect
is
necessary.
Without
that,
you
cannot
compete
over
11
months
in
the
conditions
in
which
we
work.
We
have
tried
to
build
a
team
that
has
everything.”

Asked
whether
Arsenal
have
the
resilience
to
avoid
ceding
ground
to
a
City
side
with
experience
of
chasing
down
their
competitors,
Arteta
added:
“We
haven’t
done
it
in
many
years.

“To
be
in
the
title
race,
it’s
something
that
we
have
to
show
we
can
do.
Words
mean
nothing.
We
have
to
do
it
on
the
pitch.”

A
piledriver
from
Granit
Xhaka

pic.twitter.com/4vZQ46Ccg3

—
Premier
League
(@premierleague)

January
20,
2023

While
Arsenal
have
won
five
of
their
last
seven
home
league
games
against
United
(D1,
L1),
Erik
ten
Hag’s
men
are
the
only
team
to
beat
the
Gunners
in
the
Premier
League
this
season.

With
Arsenal
looking
to
avenge
September’s
3-1
defeat
at
Old
Trafford,
Arteta
is
braced
for
a
unique
atmosphere,
saying:
“I’m
talking
to
the
boys
to
understand
what
we’re
going
to
experience
on
Sunday.

“For
us
it’s
very
meaningful,
for
our
fans
it’s
very
meaningful
and
we
are
creating
special
atmospheres
in
the
stadium.
We
have
to
take
advantage
of
that,
for
sure.”

Despite
Arsenal’s
long-running
rivalry
with
United,
Sunday’s
fixture
will
represent
just
the
third
time
they
have
hosted
the
Red
Devils
in
the
Premier
League
while
top
of
the
table.

Both
of
the
two
previous
such
meetings
finished
level
–
1-1
in
March
2004
and
2-2
in
November
2007.