Given what we have seen and heard from Mikel Arteta so far, you can guarantee he will not want Arsenal’s match with Manchester City this week billed as ‘the master versus the apprentice’.
Arteta is returning to the Etihad for the first time on Wednesday to take on his former boss, Pep Guardiola, in a match that will capture the attention of the media and supporters.
Arteta and Guardiola spent three years working together at Manchester City and it is impossible not to see the similarities between the two.
Their Barcelona upbringing, their style of football - and even their dress sense - all make it hard to not view Arteta as a ‘mini Pep’.
Arteta, however, will not want any of that talk to be a distraction as Arsenal head to Manchester City for a match that could reignite the club’s Champions League hopes.
A win will move Arsenal to within two points of Manchester United in fifth and five from Chelsea in fourth, but perhaps of greater value is the emotional boost a victory would bring.
Defeating City in their own backyard would give Arsenal the belief they could somehow sneak into the Champions League after a season of turmoil.
After their trip to the Etihad, Arsenal have a journey to Brighton and an FA Cup quarter-final at Sheffield United.
A win at City would be the perfect start to a season-defining run.
It has been a campaign of hurt for Arsenal fans so far and Wednesday’s match at the Etihad feels like the tipping that will decide how it all ends.
