Today, Arteta gave his prematch conference in the lead up to Brighton at the weekend where he faced an array of questions over Luiz, his future, Ozil, his future and more… read the full transcript.
Part of the conversation was around the impressive work Graham Potter has done with the Brighton team that already beat Arsenal at the Emirates (1-2) and will look to complete the double over them behind closed doors.
“I think he’s changed completely the way Brighton plays. He sounds very convincing and I think the players are buying into what he’s doing as well. They are a threat, they showed at the Emirates that if you’re not at it on the day, they’re going to create a lot of issues. We better be ready because it’s going to be a really tough game for us.”
When asked if Arteta beleives Arsenal will benefit from already having played a match behind closed doors he said,
“I think to talk about advantages now is not very important. We are all adapting. The experience from last night is very strange. From the moment you travel, how you get to the stadium, the feelings you have during the warm-up, during the game, it’s completely different. We are all adapting. We experienced yesterday and we can talk about things that are needed to raise the level of motivation as well, and sustain that but I don’t think it’s going to be a big issue.”
Brighton currently in 15th place on 29 points, which means they will have some fear over starting poorly and finding themselves in a relegation battle.
It’s worth mentioning that the last time we faced Brighton, they did not simply smash and grab Arsenal, but throughly competed with the Gunners and at moments had a midfield that looked dominant over ours on their way to a 2-1 win. They out possessed Arsenal and outshot them 20-12. Many supporters will know that was a different time for Arsenal, but this is no walk in the park. Arsenal need to bounce back with a win.
Gunner Thoughts 