Title fight won’t affect friendship with Pep Guardiola

Mikel Arteta insisted his friendship with Pep Guardiola will not be damaged as Arsenal bid to derail Manchester City as the kings of English football.

Arsenal played out a pulsating 2-2 draw with City, who are looking to secure a fifth consecutive Premier League title, at the Etihad Stadium last weekend, where the players clashed at full-time and the Gunners were accused of “dark arts”.

However, speaking ahead of his side’s match against Leicester at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, Arteta said his relationship with his former mentor remains intact.

Mikel Arteta, left, and Pep Guardiola are gearing up to fight for top spot again (Martin Rickett/PA)

“I love him, I respect him, I admire him and I admire his team and everything that he does,” said Arteta. “This is sport. One thing is our profession, another is our personal relationship.

“If our relationship was damaged because one draws and the other one wins or the amount of times that they’ve beaten us, I would not talk to him any more.

“So that’s not our relationship, especially the relationship that I consider both of us have. In sport it will never get in my way, a personal relationship, that’s for sure.

“If you don’t like opinions then you shouldn’t be sitting in the position that I am. It’s quite simple. Don’t take it personally. It’s part of our job.

“The things that you really care about, make sure you handle them in the right way. That relationship I really care about.”

Graeme Souness accused the Gunners of having an “inferiority complex” following the draw against City. Roy Keane also weighed into the debate by claiming Arteta’s side acted like a “small team with a small mentality” as they attempted to see out a 2-1 victory.

Arsenal celebrate a save by goalkeeper David Raya against Manchester City (Martin Rickett/PA)

John Stones equalised in the 98th minute to deny Arsenal, who played with 10 men after Leandro Trossard was dismissed on the stroke of half-time, an impressive win.

“I did what I believed was the right thing to be as competitive as possible to win the game,” said Arteta when asked about his defensive tactics.

“So, we get negative criticism — where we are, after what we’ve been through in the last three games. That tells you the expectations.

“We have to raise the level, that’s it. I want (to win on Saturday) because I want to play well, and deserve the three points, not to silence anybody. And to make our people proud. That’s it.”

Arsenal will head into Saturday’s fixture with 11 points from their opening five matches.

The Gunners won at Aston Villa and Tottenham, and came within seconds of victory at City. They also beat Wolves on the opening day and saw out a 1-1 draw with Brighton after Declan Rice was dismissed.

Mikel Arteta’s side have faced criticism despite a strong start to the season (Martin Rickett/PA)

Asked if he was surprised by the criticism, Arteta replied: “I don’t know, but honestly it’s part of what we do, because I don’t want to be on YouTube because we’ve been so silly.

“I want to be on YouTube because we’ve done the right thing in May, and for the right reasons and lifting what we want to lift and achieve, so in order to do that we have to be very efficient in what we do.

“I didn’t predict to play 66 minutes with 10 men (against Brighton and City), and we had to do that, and we have to accept that. We are interested in doing all the things that can help us to win the game.”

David Raya faces a late fitness test ahead of the game against Leicester and although Mikel Merino is closing in on his debut, Saturday’s match will come too soon for the midfielder.