Arteta and his men will face high-flying Brighton next after coming from behind to beat local rivals, West Ham at the Emirates Stadium on Monday night
By Kehinde Okeowo
Mikel Arteta has said Premier League side, Brighton, will be a very difficult nut to crack when Arsenal face them at the Amex Stadium on the last day of the year.
Arsenal came back from behind at the Emirates Stadium to defeat local rivals, West Ham United, in their Boxing Day fixture played on Monday night to extend their lead over champions, Manchester City to 7 points.
Goals from the trio of Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah in a second-half display of excellence downed the Hammers, who took the lead in the first half through a spot kick.
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The Gunners next face the high-flying Brighton side, who have shown no respect to big teams in the league this season.
Many believe that being top at Christmas means it is now Arsenal’s title to lose, but Arteta distanced his side from title talk, insisting they will be taking the games one day at a time.
He also identified the challenge against Brighton, who ended his side’s run in the Carabao Cup as a very difficult one.
“There is a lot of belief but there is a lot of humbleness as well,” Arteta told talkSPORT.
“Brighton’s going to be a very difficult test, the way they are playing they’re going to make it really hard for us and we’re going to start preparing for that tomorrow,” he said.
