Mikel Arteta assessed the strength of Sunderland, the next Premier League opposition for Arsenal.
The Gunners have gone six points clear at the top of the table and will build more ground on their rivals as at least one of **Man City**and **Liverpool**will drop points in their battle on Sunday. In the meantime, Arteta’s men must focus on a tough trip to the North-East against a resurgent club.
**Sunderland**have bounced back from their double demotion emphatically, sitting in fourth position upon their return to the top tier. Granit Xhaka, formerly at Arsenal, has been a valuable asset as club captain, Wilson Isidor is proving himself as a top level striker, and the strategic investment into the squad for Regis Le Bris is paying dividends. The league leaders cannot afford to be complacent.
“With the impact [Granit] is having, one of the best, I would say. I think what they have done as a football club, as well in the last few years, is very impressive. The management and the decisions that they've taken and how stable they look and how they have started the season, it’s really impressive.
“When you analyse them and see how well-organised they are, how they adjust things, and the spirit they have within the team, I'm not surprised. They fully deserve the position that they have at the moment. We know the type of game that we expect to play tomorrow and where the opportunities are and the things that we have to do very well to beat them and that's what we're going to try to do.
“Every weekend is crucial. There are weekends for other possible results or for other games, maybe they are a little bit more important. But at the end, you need to just conquer a certain amount of points if you want to achieve our goals and three points against Sunderland tomorrow is going to be really tough and we’re going to have to really earn them.
“Any team has the capacity and I'm sure the belief as well that they can do it. We are fully aware of that. We know our strength, we know the things we have to improve as well and we just focus on that.”