Mikel Arteta's defiant message over Pep Guardiola friendship amid Arsenal title charge

Mikel Arteta renews acquaintances with Pep Guardiola on Friday night wishing he was going toe to toe for the title with anyone else but his mentor

The Gunners boss was forced to direct operations from isolation at home, after testing positive for Covid, as Arsenal suffered a gut-wrenching and hugely controversial 2-1 defeat by Manchester City on New Year's Day 2022, when the teams last met. Since then, Arteta has masterminded an astonishing title charge and he takes his Premier League front runners to the Etihad in the FA Cup fourth round admitting he has mixed feelings about separating business from old pals' acts.

Asked if his relationship with Guardiola under whom he worked as an assistant coach at City made it even more special that they are rivals for the title, Arteta said: I would prefer to do it with someone else, to be fair. I want the best for him, genuinely, and when you are challenging with someone like this and something comes in-between that, its a strange feeling.