NO NEED FOR ARTETA'S TRICKS AS GUNNERS BID TO END ETIHAD WOE

ONE of Mikel Arteta’s favourite tactics ahead of big games is using motivational tools.

- Simon Collings

He has been known to use tweets from opposition players, something a manager has said, or even, as was the case last season, make his squad watch back Amazon’s fly-on-the-wall documentary and the moment Arsenal blew Champions League qualification in 2021-22. But Arteta will not need to get creative to motivate his players for Sunday’s game at the Etihad.

The stakes could not be higher in what could be a defining game in the title race.

For the first time in a decade, there is a three-way race for the title and just one point separates Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City.

Any one of them could be top of the table by the end of Easter weekend, with Liverpool hosting Brighton at Anfield earlier on Sunday.

After a blip around the turn of the year, Arsenal have clicked into gear to win their past eight Premier League games.

But the Etihad has been the scene of many painful moments for Arteta since he was appointed in 2019 and City are out to swing the title momentum back their way.

Arsenal have not won on the blue side of Manchester since 2015, when Arteta was still playing. They have suffered eight straight defeats there, including a 4-1 humbling last season that dealt a huge psychological blow to their title charge.