The Arsenal manager has been speaking ahead of Tuesday night's Premier League clash which sees top of the table play third in the Premier League
Mikel Arteta, Manager of Arsenal, looks on
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta(Image: David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
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Mikel Arteta says he wants to make Aston Villa ‘suffer’ after his Arsenal team slipped to a ‘cruel’ defeat at Villa Park.
The Gunners welcome Villa to the Emirates Stadium on Tuesday evening, a little more than three weeks since they saw their unbeaten run ended by Emi Buendia’s stoppage time winner.
Arsenal were 11 without loss when they turned up at Villa Park on December 6 and looked to have escaped with a point. That was until Buendia curled in a dramatic winner.
Arteta says his side will learn from that experience – but admits Villa deserve to be third in the table and only three points behind his team.
Asked if Villa were now genuine championship contenders, Arteta replied: “They are meant to be there when you look at what they are doing and how consistent they have been and what Unai has done with the club.
“They fully deserve that credit because they are doing it on the pitch where you have to show your level. But every opponent that comes here, we want them to suffer, and be as dominant as we were against Brighton for the majority of the game.
“We know we will have a tough match. We will watch the last game back (against Villa) and I have a few ideas on things that we have to do better.
“It was quite cruel on us, the way we lost it, but we have learned from it and we can use that as motivation and hunger in the right manner.”
Villa have won 11 in a row with the 2-1 victory at Chelsea meaning they are now seven points clear of fourth placed Liverpool after the first half of the season.
Arteta’s squad depth has been tested this season, with a number of players ruled out for significant spells through injury.
And after spending in excess of £250million on eight new summer arrivals, the Spaniard has not ruled out further reinforcements in January.
“The window is there and I mean we are Arsenal and we have to be looking at it – ‘Okay, what do we need?’ And we have to be actively looking and then, whether we can do it or not, that’s a different story,” he said.
“But our job is to always be very prepared because something can happen, so hopefully it’ll be very positive.
“When you look across the other clubs, they have 24 or 25 squad players. Although we have had more injuries than expected, some of them not avoidable, we want to be better and we know how important the part of having the right availability with players is going to be this season.”
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