The Football Faithful
·22 September 2024
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Yahoo sportsThe Football Faithful
·22 September 2024
Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta pit their wits against each other once again this weekend, as Manchester City take on Arsenal in the Premier League.
Friends who have become rivals, Arteta began his coaching career on Guardiola’s staff at Manchester City before leaving to take charge of Arsenal in December 2019.
In recent seasons, Arteta’s evolution of the Gunners has turned Arsenal into the closest challengers to Manchester City’s Premier League throne. Arsenal have finished as runners-up in each of the past two campaigns, pushing the league’s dominant force in successive title races before falling just short.
Their early season match-up at the Etihad could be crucial to this season’s battle, with just two points having separated the sides at the season’s end in 2023/24.
Arsenal took four points from the league meetings between the sides last season, though those results were in contrast to earlier encounters. A
shock FA Cup semi-final upset of the Citizens in his debut campaign aside, Arteta lost his first nine games against his former mentor, including a 4-1 thrashing at the Etihad during the 2022/23 title run-in.