Arsenal boss, Mikel Arteta is banking on an empty Etihad Stadium helping them turn things around against Manchester City.
No one expects it to be an easy fixture for the Gunners, especially after the season they have endured under three different managers.
Arteta will be facing his former employers for the first time since taking over as the Arsenal manager. His team showed mixed results in the two friendlies leading up to next weekend’s tie – a 6-0 thrashing of Charlton Athletic and then a 2-3 loss against Brentford FC. Concerns were quickly raised over a side who are ninth in the Premier League standings.
Arsenal won three on the trot prior to the season being suspended. Arteta believes that the unusual circumstances brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic could swing things in their favour against City, especially the absence of the home fans.
“I hope it is (an advantage),” Arteta told Sky Sports. “It’s going to help. Football is passion and energy and when you lose that, things balance much more in my opinion. But I know how strong they are and what they are able to do if they are all switched on on the day.”
Arteta believes all Premier League sides will struggle to build rhythm after such a long absence from football. He continued, “We’ve played friendly games but that’s not a Premier League rhythm at all,” he said. “I think it will be very difficult to sustain big rhythms for 90 minutes for the first few games. We were on a really good run before we stopped, the aim is to be a better team than we were then.”
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