Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta can see Mauricio Pochettino’s Chelsea being a ‘threat’

LONDON – Arsenal mean business this season, and rivals should be concerned that they do not look like the side that suffered a late collapse last campaign and allowed Manchester City to snatch the English Premier League title away.

The Gunners could be top of the standings this weekend, for 48 hours at least, as they travel to Stamford Bridge to take on fellow London side Chelsea on Saturday.

Manager Mikel Arteta, however, is not thinking about a title race so early into the season, and preferred to focus all his attention on how to stop Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues.

“I don’t have a clue who are going to be involved,” he insisted on Friday when asked if Arsenal can pose a serious challenge. “We want to be there, but the league is so demanding.”

The Spaniard knows Pochettino well, as they were teammates when he played for French giants Paris Saint-Germain on loan from 2001 to 2002.

“I think when you look first of all at the manager and coaching staff, and then the history and players... You can see that they’re going to be a threat,” Arteta added.

“I knew he (Pochettino) was going to be a coach. I followed him very closely. As a player he was a leader. I used to have him at my back and he was constantly coaching me.”

Arsenal lost 2-1 to French side Lens

in the Champions League earlier in October, but bounced back remarkably to

beat Manchester City 1-0

and headed into the international break as one of only two unbeaten teams in the league.

Tottenham Hotspur are also undefeated after eight fixtures of this English top-flight season, while the Gunners are level on 20 points and goal difference (+10) with their north London rivals.

Spurs, however, top the table by virtue of scoring two more goals.

With Ange Postecoglou’s side not playing until Monday when they host Fulham, Arteta will be eager to head to the summit with three points against Chelsea.

That would also bode well for the season ahead as Arsenal could begin a Premier League campaign with four wins and four clean sheets away from home for the first time in their history.

“I do have the idea (how to prepare for the game) but I have to see them altogether first, because we have a lot of people travelling around the world with lots of minutes in their legs,” Arteta said of playing after the international break.

One positive is that Stamford Bridge has been a happy hunting ground for Arsenal, who have won their last three league games there.

Overall, a 3-1 win at the Emirates in May also made it six wins from their last seven against the Blues, so Arteta would be feeling confident if statistics were anything to go by.

The Arsenal boss, however, will have concerns about Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and William Saliba all missing international duty owing to their injuries.

In the Chelsea camp, Wesley Fofana, Christopher Nkunku, Ben Chilwell and Romeo Lavia are ruled out, while there are also several other fitness doubts.

Following a poor start to the season, the Blues beat Vincent Kompany’s newly promoted Burnley 4-1 earlier in October, which was their third straight win in all competitions.

It was the first time they had gone on such a winning run since former manager Graham Potter’s final few weeks in March, but there is much room for improvement as they are still stuck in 11th place.

Pochettino will hope to win three Premier League games in a row for the first time since October 2022.

“Now is to build another momentum. We are confident, the team have a different mood to one month ago,” he said.

“Still struggling with some injuries but working really hard to find solutions. We are in a very positive way.

“We respect Arsenal. Mikel, part of my family, I am going to meet him tomorrow. It is tough because they are doing a great job. They are doing fantastic but we are confident we are going to do our best.”