Mikel Arteta wary of revitalised Manchester United against ‘far from perfect’ Arsenal in EPL

LONDON – Arsenal welcomed the return of Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapie to training ahead of their big English Premier League home clash against Manchester United on Jan 25, but manager Mikel Arteta flagged concerns over their opponents’ renewed intensity under Michael Carrick.

The

Red Devils beat second-placed Manchester City 2-0 on Jan 17

under the guidance of interim manager Carrick, which also helped extend Arsenal’s lead at the top of the table to seven points coming into this weekend’s fixtures.

Arteta acknowledged the challenge posed by United compared to

the Gunners’ 1-0 victory in their August meeting at Old Trafford

under Ruben Amorim.

“Yes, with Michael coming in it’s going to bring new ideas, the intensity rises up, you could see in the Manchester derby with their behaviour and the game that they played,” he told reporters on Jan 23.

“We expect a tough match but we will adapt to that for sure. We are at home and we know how important that is going to be for us.”

When asked about how different United will be in terms of tactics besides the expectation of an intense game, Arteta added: “We don’t know. Every game is different.

“I mean, they are so good in a lot of departments. You saw that a few days ago in Manchester. They have a lot of attributes to cause you problems. But as well, like every team, they have their weaknesses as well.

“At the end, the individuals are the ones that make the difference or the ones that make the game in a certain way... and we’re going to try to be ourselves, be very dominant like we always want to be, impose the game that we want to play and regardless of what they want to do, we want to take the game in the areas that are very good for us.”

On the injury front, the Arsenal boss was unsure whether Calafiori, out since December with a muscle injury, and Hincapie, who suffered a groin injury earlier in January, will be ready to join his team’s defence this weekend after returning to training on Jan 23.

“We still have another training session, so we’ll see tomorrow after that,” he said.

Gabriel Jesus and Viktor Gyokeres are competing for a place in the starting line-up after both forwards impressed in

Arsenal’s midweek 3-1 Champions League win against Inter Milan on Jan 20

. Jesus scored twice, while substitute Gyokeres also found the net.

“We were waiting for that with the amount of games that are coming up, and they are all going to have opportunities and minutes, so great to have them back and especially to have them in good form,” Arteta said.

The manager added that forward Kai Havertz is nearing full recovery, leaving winger Max Dowman as the sole player sidelined by injury.

Arteta also addressed Arsenal’s decision to send teenage midfielder Ethan Nwaneri on loan to French side Marseille, coached by former Brighton & Hove Albion manager Roberto de Zerbi.

“At the end, you have to be thrown to the sharks in an incredible atmosphere and club. It’s going to make so much good,” he said of the move.

Arteta also said his side had room for improvement, despite being unbeaten in their last 12 matches in all competitions and winning all seven of their Champions League games this season, with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola calling Arsenal the “best team in the world”.

“I think we’re the team that wants to be constantly better. We are doing a lot of things right, but we are far from perfect, and our only aim is to sustain the level we are doing and try to improve again,” he said.

“You need to dominate all the phases in the game if we want to have the chance to win major trophies.” REUTERS, AFP