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Arteta wants Arsenal to be‘kings of everything’

Mikel Arteta wants Arsenal to be ‘kings of everything’ amid talk of the club’s set-piece prowess.

Arsenal beat Manchester United 2-0 on Wednesday night with both goals coming from set-pieces. No team in the Premier League has scored more set-piece goals (7) than the Gunners this season, having also led the league on the same metric in 2023/24.

Speaking ahead of this weekend’s trip to Fulham, Arteta was asked whether he takes pride in their set-piece record amid hard work on the training ground. The Spaniard said his ambition is for Arsenal to be ‘kings of everything’ and recognised as ‘the best of the best’.

“Well we want to be the kings of everything, on set pieces, the best in the world, on high press the best in the world, attacking in open spaces, the best in the world,” he said at his pre-match press conference.

“Best atmosphere and stadium, the best at everything. Before it was we didn’t score enough, we didn’t challenge, we didn’t win big games for 20 years. We want to be the best at everything.

“The best academy, the best individual development for players. We want to be the best of the best. Recruit the best players, the best coaches, that’s the aim.”

Arteta gives Arsenal injury update on Gabriel and Calafiori

Arteta provided an injury update on his Arsenal squad ahead of facing Fulham. The Arsenal boss said it was ‘too soon’ to determine whether Gabriel and Riccardo Calafiori would be fit to feature. The defensive duo both missed the midweek win over Manchester United.

“It’s match day minus two, so we have to modify a few players, we have another training session tomorrow so we will see how everybody is for Sunday. Tomorrow is the next session, its too difficult to say something. It’s difficult to say.”