BritishCoach Mikel Arteta believes that Arsenal must continue to develop and prove its strength in the Champions League, even though it is only one point away from qualifying for the knockout round.
“We have to prove our strength,” Arteta said on November 28 at the press conference before the match against Lens in round five of Group B of the Champions League. “Arsenal must return to Europe as the club we want to be, and must have a strong presence and good results. At this time, the team has not done that and must continue."
Arteta talks with captain Martin Odegaard at London Colney training ground on November 28. Image: arsenal.com
Arsenal are top with nine points, four points ahead of PSV and Lens. Victory at the Emirates today will help the "Gunners" enter the knock-out round with the leading position, and Arteta wants his students to solve the problem before the last round as PSV's away team on December 12. “We want to be at the top and the opportunity will come to us tomorrow, against the club that caused the problem,” he said. But we have experience facing them. Therefore, the team has the right motivation to resolve the group stage early."
The 41-year-old coach assessed that Arsenal is experiencing a successful Champions League group stage campaign, winning against PSV - the club won all 13 first rounds of the Dutch National Championship, and winning three points on Sevilla's field. “You have to sweat and put in a lot of effort, play well and deserve a lot of things in matches to win,” Arteta expressed. “We have played top opponents and tomorrow will be another tough match.”
Arsenal's only defeat through the first four rounds of the Champions League group stage was a 1-2 loss at Lens in early October. It is almost certain that the French representative will choose a counter-attacking defensive style of play as a guest at the Champions League. Emirates. Regarding how to break through a multi-layered defense, Arteta emphasized that the most effective way is to practice well, master attacks and make accurate decisions during the match.
Arsenal will be without Fabio Vieira today - the midfielder has just had groin surgery after being consulted by a specialist and must be out of action for several weeks. But according to Arteta, the duo Emile Smith Rowe and Thomas Partey could return before January 1, and in the meantime, Oleksandr Zinchenko could be promoted to midfield, making up for the lack of personnel in the midfield. Meanwhile, Ben White is ready to start and goalkeeper David Raya can start after missing the 2024-1 win over Brentford in the Premier League last weekend because of the terms of the loan contract.
Hong Duy
