Enzo Maresca shared his thoughts on the strength of Arsenal.
The Gunners go into their trip to Stamford Bridge as the leaders of the Premier League and sit at the top of the table in the league phase of the Champions League. With wins against **Tottenham**and Bayern Munich in the bag, the men of Mikel Arteta have proved that they are a watertight unit.
“It's a different challenge, as you said. We planned the game against Barcelona in one way. We need to plan a game against Arsenal in a different way and then we'll see at the end of the game.
*“I think it's, I said after the game, it's another big game. We finished one against Barcelona. As you said, we won, it was a good feeling. And now we have another one. Now if it's bigger than the last one, I don't know. For me, they are all important games for sure. Beating Barcelona, or in case we are able to beat Arsenal, it's a nice feeling. But at the end, it's three points.*
*“I think the Premier League is full of good players, very good midfielders. As you said, Moises Caicedo, Declan Rice, Rodri from Man City, Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest, Bruno Guimaraes from Newcastle United. I think the Premier League is full of very good midfielders.*
“[The midfield battle] is a big part but it's not the only one. I think it's 11v11, the ones that go on from the bench. The big picture is not just one part of the picture. It's a big game, first versus second.
*“For sure they defend fantastically. Any teams against them, they struggle to score goals, not only to score goals, but even to create chances. So it's a team that they defend very well. Then they have weapons when they attack. So I think it's, as you said, in this moment they are top in the Champions League, they are top in the Premier League. And we're going to try our best to win the game.*
*“I think Arsenal is not just against one team or two teams. Arsenal, they score goals in set-pieces against any team. The last game against Bayern Munich, they scored the first one from corner.*
“It's not just that they score goals against. They score goals against any team. They have a system in place that works very well and we're going to try to do our best to defend in the best way.”