Mikel Arteta shares what he’ll be letting his Arsenal players do before they play Leeds

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It’s a big old weekend of Premier League football as Manchester City and Arsenal once again look to put the pressure on each other.

City take on Liverpool in the early kick off at The Etihad, while Arsenal will play Leeds United at 3pm. It means that, in theory, the Gunners could go 11 points clear by beating Leeds if City slip up against the Reds.

Of course, the stock answer from managers when it comes to keeping an eye on other teams is the ‘we can only focus on ourselves’ line.

And while Mikel Arteta did use that line, he did also admit in his press conference that both he and his players will be watching the City v Liverpool clash if they can.

“Our focus is on what we can control – ourselves – every single day. But we love to watch football games and for sure if we can, we will be watching them, like any other manager or team, and this is a great game to watch,” Arteta said.

“There is a little bit of gap between the games, but when we get to [our] game, the focus will be on that and nothing else. Everyone will switch on and focus on what we’re going to do.”

TBR’s View: Pressure is on Manchester City

This is the problem with having different kick off times around the country. City know they have to win and it puts pressure on them to get a result.

For Arsenal, it’s a case of the pressure being firmly off. Should they see City win, then the job remains the same. If they see City drop points though, then they’ll be more determined than ever to get a result against Leeds.

It’s nice to see Arteta acknowledge the City game though. Fans aren’t daft, and any player in their right mind would want to keep an eye on how their main rivals are doing.