Perfect doesn’t exist in Premier League circles, but when it did, it could look one thing just like the soccer Arsenal are producing this season.

The Gunners are a aspect who have a look at residence when they’re away. They delicately steadiness youth with expertise. They drive outcomes with aptitude and school however may also win ugly – contemplate their 1-0 victory over Leeds again in October as testomony.

Sunday’s North London derby triumph additionally exhibited comparable hallmarks.

Sunday twenty second January 4:00pm


Kick off 4:30pm

Arsenal’s success is not sudden, it is methodical. It’s been cultivated over time. Refined and finessed by a practitioner whose requirements are relentlessly excessive, and whose strategies are as detailed as they’re exact.

Mikel Arteta’s long-term challenge is starting to bear fruit.

Arsenal have, maybe belatedly, overtaken Manchester City as favourites for this season’s Premier League crown, however Arteta takes no consolation in bookmakers’ estimations. He leaves nothing to likelihood, no stone unturned.

Like any reasoned head coach, he measures progress by tangible landmarks – corresponding to a primary league double over age-old nemesis Tottenham for the primary time since 2013-14.

Or the five-point benefit (and sport in hand) they at the moment maintain over nearest rivals Man City.

Or extra compelling nonetheless, their spectacular factors complete (47 from 18 performed) – essentially the most they’ve collected at this stage of a league marketing campaign since, nicely, ever. They are even outpacing Arsenal’s ‘Invincibles’ from 2003-04.

So, how have we received right here and might such outstanding type be sustained?

“The plan was always to get better, and get better quickly, but the reality is different,” Arteta started. “Unfortunately the curve is not always [upwards]. The curve is up and down,” he illustrates with a wave-like hand motion.

“I was lucky because I’ve had the support I’ve needed in every moment. We’ve had difficulties that I never planned for, like with Covid. We needed time to evolve the team, to evolve the squad – it was in a state that needed big improvement. Now we’re in a much better position.”

The place the Spaniard is referring to is high of the desk. If they had been to remain put till May 28 Arsenal would raise their first Premier League trophy in 19 years. They had been 40/1 outsiders earlier than a ball was kicked, now the Gunners are odds-on – it is theirs to lose.

“The demands the club puts on its players makes them hungry,” Arteta continued, ensuring to additionally convey humility within the subsequent sentence. “Nothing is won yet, it’s too early, but the supporters assimilate that fire and desire – confidence is very much related. That has to be there at this level.

“We have not completed it [win the league]. This workforce is new to it. We have to offer ourselves the entire doable arguments to attempt to obtain it. The need is there, that is for certain. I’m very proud of the place we’re – I would not change that.”

Arteta himself is obsessive about enchancment – which is comprehensible if you happen to contemplate his tutelage. Working underneath Pep Guardiola at Man City he gained two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two league cups. Fast ahead a number of years, then a pair extra, and Pep’s protege now stands as essentially the most credible menace to City’s fifth title in six seasons.

Arteta would not be drawn on the irony of usurping his former educator, however is nonetheless having fun with the battle rising between the pink aspect of north London and the sky blue of Manchester.

“It’s strange,” he mentioned. “We worked together for many years. We have incredible experiences together. We have a very special relationship and when you face that kind of person it’s always strange. But I knew, the day I made the decision [to leave Manchester City and join Arsenal], that was going to be the case.”

While Guardiola’s tortured soul is busy making an attempt to illicit perfection, bemoaning his “unrecognisable” workforce, Arteta has been doing the other. He’s lit a fireplace underneath his gamers. The Arsenal DNA, so recognisable in groups throughout the Arsene Wenger period, is lastly again. The soccer is straightforward on the attention, electrical at instances, however extra importantly is predetermined to win.

“We defend and represent our club in every possible way,” he mentioned. “We can be much better as a club and as a team. Those are the demands we have to put on ourselves. We are the first to say we want to be the best, that is the desire of this club. Our main focus is doing the right things every day.

“Winning brings the whole lot collectively, consider me. Winning is simply so useful. It’s the entire level, the whole lot we do. The manner I speak right here, the whole lot we do on the soccer pitch, each choice we make is to win. That’s an important factor.”

Man City’s mini-slump is Arsenal’s gain, but stormier waters lie ahead. Indeed the target on the Gunners’ back is growing bigger by the week, as Manchester United attempt to insert themselves in a narrowing title race. Arsenal are now considered a threat – and a sizeable one at that. A contest so delicately poised is bound to have “twists and turns,” Arteta says.

Sunday’s assembly with Erik ten Hag’s United, due to this fact, has arrived at an fascinating juncture. Coping with huge events has beforehand held this youthful Arsenal aspect again, so with sterner examinations arriving thick and quick, how will they fare?

“We’ve had big lessons. You have to understand that setbacks have certain context – some things we could control, some things were out of our control. We have responsibility to learn from mistakes.

“It’s true that the team has learned to deal with those hard moments in a very efficient way. It’s something that is important. There are moments where it’s rainy, windy, the pitch is not good and we play three days ago. But you have to still win in that context.

“So successful in any circumstance is what an important workforce ought to have. You can not win the identical manner each three days, it is unattainable. It’s about discovering a manner – what triggers that second to get you over the road and win a soccer match.”

This season has been packed full of momentum-shifting moments. Some to Arsenal’s advantage. Just as United began displaying green shoots of recovery, snatching a win against rivals Man City last Saturday, their star midfielder Casemiro gets booked for a foul on Wilfried Zaha in a midweek encounter against Crystal Palace – ruling him out of United’s trip to the Emirates. The Brazilian’s absence may well give Arsenal a competitive edge.

This fixture, all through the nineties and noughties, was synonymous with the ‘darkish arts’. Think Patrick Vieira vs Roy Keane. Think bust-ups and brawls, fisticuffs and fracases. It’s a grudge that predates each managers and definitely all taking part in employees. But this weekend’s encounter has the potential to reignite the flame. A throwback to bygone eras, if you’ll. It’s “meaningful,” Arteta acknowledged.

“I have memories [of Arsenal vs Man United] from when I was younger – I used to see those battles. I remember how intense and passionate it was, that really got my attention… Every game is massive right now, but we’re really focused and determined.”

Indeed each golf equipment are on the same upward trajectory after respective durations of transition, however have, till very just lately, been vulnerable to a wobble. We are prone to get a greater indication of who’s additional alongside the sequence of evolution on Sunday.

Arteta completed by providing his ideas on Arsenal’s newest newcomer, Leandro Trossard, who he hopes can assist their title tilt: “He is a player that gives us a lot of versatility and quality in the final third. He knows the league. He was available and he wanted to come – he was desperate to come. We welcome those kinds of players to the club.

“He had a smile on his face and he believed it was the suitable second for him to maneuver. It was actually properly completed, between the participant, agent and the membership. I actually like the method and the end result on the finish, clearly. He’s prepared and shall be obtainable on Sunday. I’m very glad.”

Question is, will Arteta nonetheless be rubbing his fingers collectively come Sunday night, or will United’s resurgence show too scorching to deal with?

Watch Arsenal vs Man Utd reside on Sky Sports Premier League on Sunday from 4pm; kick-off 4.30pm