Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta has urged Tottenham to “do” a job against Manchester City, in order to set up a dramatic final day of 2023-24 Premier League season.
Leandro Trossard flicked Kai Havertz’s 20th minute low cross into the bottom-right corner to seal a scrappy win for Arsenal away at Manchester United, which put the Gunners back on the Premier League summit.
Title rivals, Manchester City however can go top on Tuesday with a win at Arsenal’s North London rivals, Tottenham, and put the title in their own hands on the final day.
A draw or defeat for City at Spurs however would put Arsenal on the cusp of a first league title in 20 years, as long as they beat Everton at home on the final day irrespective of what Man City do against West Ham in that scenario.
Arteta however has iterated that he is prepared for all scenarios based on his past experiences as a player and manager.
“My experience in this league in the last 20 years is that any team can beat any team. And I lived it in various scenarios in the last day when a lot of teams had necessities, although not much, and the honesty and the respect that everybody puts in the games is phenomenal. And we know we need a result.”
Arteta added that his team just “need to do our own thing” against Everton but is happy that his team has knocked open “that box of dreams” in taking the title fight to the final day, having fell short on this penultimate weekend last season.
The Spaniard also teased that he will be supporting Spurs against Man City, as he quipped: “We know we need it, and they are a really difficult team to play against. We just suffered that a few weeks ago when we played them, so hopefully they can do it.”
Turning his focus to Arsenal’s win at Old Trafford amidst intense pressure from Man City through the second half of this season, Arteta admitted that his players “have had no margin for errors since January.”
Arteta however felt that his team had played “too safe,” after Trossard’s eventual winner with little respect for the structure and purpose behind the game plan, whilst struggling to adapt to the changes when required.
Looking ahead to the final day, Arteta described having a shot at the title on the very last day of the campaign as “part of our journey and to have the big chance of winning the Premier League and we’re going to experience that.”
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