Brighton boss Roberto De Zerbi has given plenty of praise to Arsenal and Mikel Arteta ahead of the two sides meeting in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday night, backing them to make a push for the Premier League title this season. It comes after the Gunners have come flying out the blocks in the league, sitting top after 13 games.
Arteta's side have battled hard to ensure that place so far ahead of the break for the 2022 World Cup in mid-November, beating the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea and Tottenham to get there. In that time there has been plenty of fixtures to combat due to the upcoming break, leading to the need for greater rotation.
That was something that the manager praised his players for ahead of the Brighton clash, telling the official Arsenal website: "They’ve dealt with [the fixture list] really well. I think we had a really good pre-season and we put the boys in a really good condition to face this fixture congestion, and they have responded extremely well, especially the way we play which is really intense."
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It remains to be seen if the side will be able to continue competing with Manchester City at the top but De Zerbi has backed them to do just that, telling reporters before the game: "I think they can arrive to the last game to fight for the title. Manchester City are a very good team with very good players and the difference is they know the way [to win the title]. Arteta is one of the best coaches in Europe but he knows that the best is Guardiola."
Amid such a claim, the Italian manager has praised summer signings for the title mentality they have brought to the Emirates Stadium, adding: "Another thing with Zinchenko and Jesus, maybe they find the best mentality because these players know how to win. They won a lot in the Premier League and I think they help the other team-mates to find the right mentality."
It's a shift that has seen the Gunners impress so far, but with 25 games still ahead of them in the league, they still have a long way to go before achieving any of the goals they've set out.
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