Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has spoken about how much he is looking forward to returning to the Etihad Stadium to take on Manchester City.
The Gunners boss worked with Pep Guardiola at Manchester City for three years, with Arteta the assistant manager to the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss during a successful period for the club.
During their time together, City won the Premier League title twice, along with two League Cup successes and the FA Cup last season.
But Arteta left his role at City to become the Gunners' new head coach in December, with the Spaniard taking his first role as a manager back at the club he played for between 2011 and 2016.
And Arteta is now relishing returning to Manchester City and coming up against Guardiola in the opposing dugout at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday night.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Arteta said: "It’s going to be a very special night. I’m very excited to get back there," he said.
“I have some fantastic memories and a lot of games there, a lot of people I like. Now I’m in a different position on a different bench. I will defend my club as well as I can.”
Meanwhile, Arteta is hoping to use his knowledge of the City players and how they work to help Arsenal get a result against Guardiola's men, although he admits that there is only so much he can do himself.
"It gives me a very clear idea of what they are trying to do, and what they will be looking to do," he said.
"It is something different to try and stop that, and create issues that I think we can create for them, but that has to happen on the day when they are at their best.
"I know what they are capable of doing and the variation that they have. At the end of the day it is about the performance of the players on the pitch.
"We're going to go there trying to beat them, put all the things we can on the pitch to make it difficult for them, to create the scenarios we want to do during the game. Let's see if we turn up on the day at our best, we can perform and win the game.
"I think we have to be at our best, that's for sure. To have any chance to win a game at the Etihad against those players, we have to be at our best.
"I think we are in two different processes and levels, at the moment we have to try manage those individually and collectively. We have to be at our best.
