'Very strange' - Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta can't believe what Pep Guardiola has done at Man City

Mikel Arteta knows Pep Guardiola and Manchester City well. The Arsenal boss spent three years as Gaurdiola's assistant at the Etihad Stadium, before making the move into management with Arsenal in 2019.

The pair are great friends, but also great rivals now, with Arsenal being City's closest challengers in each of the last two Premier League seasons. The Gunners finished five points adrift of City in 2022.23 and then two points off them last year.

They were expected to be City's closest challengers once more this season, but neither can lay a glove on Liverpool currently, with the Reds, under new boss Arne Slot, eight points clear of City and nine clear of Arsenal after 12 matches.

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Arsenal went though a spell of four Premier League games without a win to fall behind in the title race, while City are on a run of six games without a win in all competitions - unheard of under Guardiola.

City became the first team in Premier League history to win four consecutive titles when winning it last year, but a fifth looks some way off currently. And Arteta can't quite believe what he's seeing at the Etihad Stadium.

Speaking in his pre-match press conference ahead of the game with West Ham United this Saturday, Arteta said: "What I have made of it is what they have done for nine years. I think that is what people have to talk about, how difficult it is what they have done for nine years consistently.

"And yeah, a bump, everybody has a bump. For them, it is very strange because in nine years they never had it. But that tells you as well the level and the environment that we are in, that everything has to go almost perfect. Performance has to be perfect, availability of your squad has to be perfect, things have to go your way and the opposition, the level is different, and it’s so hard to win.

Speaking about how he feels about Guardiola in particular and the struggles he is going throgh, Arteta added: "That’s something very personal. I feel a lot of sympathy for all my colleagues. I know how we get judged for one thing which is results. I know how difficult it is."

City travel to Anfield to take on Liverpool in a massive clash on Sunday afternoon that could determine whether City are in the hunt for a fifth straight title or not come the end of the season.