Mikel Arteta declares that Arsenal are heading to the Man Utd showdown against a “perfect scenario”

Mikel Arteta believes that Arsenal have the “perfect stage” to once again be among the greats.

Unbelievably, Arsenal haven’t won at Old Trafford in the Premier League since 2006

And they haven’t won in any of the Big Six since 2015, a streak that stretches back to 28 games.

Arteta is clearly making progress to make Arsenal true contenders once again.

But they cannot afford another defeat this early in the season as they have lost to Liverpool, Manchester City and Leicester, and beating Manchester United would be an impressive result.

Gunners chief Arteta said: “I think it’s been 14 years since Arsenal won a Premier League game at United and after a loss like we had against Leicester last week, I think it’s the perfect setting to go there and try to do that.

“This is the challenge now. We’ve already done it against some great teams, now we have to do it consistently. I’m not worried about the performances because you can see the trend and how we are evolving.

“We will go to Old Trafford with the same mentality, to go there and try to win the football game and improve.

“We are in a process and hopefully we will be a stronger and more ruthless team week after week.”

Arsenal, of course, have beaten great teams in the Emirates with Arteta, including United and Liverpool, and also on the way to winning the FA Cup.

But the teams that won the title never used to get away with losing more than five games in a season, and Liverpool were crowned champions last season having lost only three times.

Arteta, however, expects a different campaign.

“What we are facing is unprecedented,” he said. “If you look at the table this season compared to last season, it’s a completely different league for everyone.”

Arteta, however, accepts that they have yet to find the right balance between defense and attack, especially when it comes to creativity.

Unbelievably, Arsenal have scored fewer goals per game with Arteta than they did with Unai Emery: 1.54 versus 1.78.

Likewise, Arteta’s reign has made just 9.5 shots per game compared to 12.3 under Emery. However, they have conceded much less with Arteta, 1.08 versus 1.37.

Arteta added: “We have come a long way, this is the next step. We have to attack certain blocks in certain positions and with a certain number of players. We will get better at that. “

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