Rodri makes bold statement ahead of Arsenal-Manchester City clash | OneFootball

Manchester City midfielder Rodri says the team are heading to the Emirates Stadium this weekend to win, and he doesn’t care what happened last season.

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Arsenal face another tough test in the Premier League this weekend, with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City visiting the Emirates Stadium.

City had made a slow start to the new Premier League campaign, only winning one of their three matches in August and losing the other two. But the last week has represented a turnaround, with City thrashing Manchester United 3-0 and easing past Napoli 2-0 in the Champions League.

City were helped in the latter fixture by an early red card for their opponents, but they’ll still feel they’re building momentum. Speaking to the media, Rodri insisted they’re now going to Arsenal with the intent to win.

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“Yeah, we’re going with the mentality to win in there (the Emirates Stadium),” Rodri said. “I don’t care what happened in the last season, I don’t care.

“We have the level to go there and show, again, our best shape. And yeah, we know they (Arsenal) are an unbelievable team; they reformed the team every single year with incredible signings and every day they’re potentially better and better, like every single team.

“But yeah, I don’t know; it’s the beginning of the season, but it will be a good message for them (Arsenal) if we go there and win in their home. So this is, I think, our mentality.”

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images

Much as Rodri might want to put it out of his mind, it’s true that City’s last visit to Arsenal was disastrous. The Gunners ran out 5-1 winners, extending their unbeaten streak against Guardiola’s side to five matches.

City had been completely dominant against Arsenal for a while before that, winning 15 games out of the previous 16. The only blot was a 2-0 FA Cup semi-final loss in 2020.

But things have changed since then, with Arsenal winning the Community Shield over City in 2023, winning consecutive Premier League fixtures at the Emirates Stadium, and drawing consecutive games at the Etihad.

Even last season’s draw at the Etihad only came about due to Arsenal unfairly going down to 10 men whilst winning the game. Both teams will feel they have a good chance to pick up all three points this weekend.