Ruben Dias insists Manchester City are not giving any thought to possible wind-up tactics from Arsenal this weekend.
The two clubs renew hostilities at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday after two fiery clashes last season.
The first of those, a contentious 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium, ended with plenty of bad blood and City striker Erling Haaland telling Gunners manager Mikel Arteta to “stay humble”.
The second encounter saw a rampant Arsenal run out 5-1 winners with teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly rubbing salt in the wounds by provocatively mimicking Haaland’s meditation pose goal celebration.
City defender Dias said: “To be honest, I don’t really care about them. I just care about us.
“If other people want to play games because of rivalries, or whatever feeds them, then go ahead. Be what you want to be.
“We believe in what we do. We play games to win for ourselves, for our families, our people.
“That’s the way to be – and that’s how you pull off what we pulled off. That’s what we believe in and nothing is bigger in our minds than knowing we have to be the best version of ourselves.
“It doesn’t matter who we are playing against.”
The game is a test for City, who have put successive losses to Tottenham and Brighton before the international break behind them with victories over Manchester United and Napoli in the past week.
Arsenal appear to have strengthened well over the summer and are considered in some circles to be Premier League title favourites this season.
“Obviously we’re happy and it’s important confidence-wise,” said Dias of City’s latest results.
“But it’s going to be a long season. We take it day by day, step by step. These wins are super important for us in the moment, but we take them one at a time.”
City will assess Rodri after the Ballon d’Or-winning midfielder was withdrawn as a precaution after an hour of the Champions League defeat of Napoli on Thursday.
The Spaniard missed most of last season after suffering a serious knee injury in the home clash with Arsenal and his return is being carefully managed.
Dias said: “He’s obviously very important, massively important. In any team you need your best players available.
“And obviously him, he has a special ability to win a ball defensively and, with the ball, make the team breathe. I feel like that is very important.”
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