Mikel Arteta has sent a gracious message of congratulations to Arsenal’s fierce North London rivals Tottenham, after the Lilywhites won the Europa League on Wednesday night.
Arteta was speaking ahead of his side’s final Premier League match of the season. The Gunners travel to Southampton, where they will wrap up second place, where only a ridiculous goal swing will see Manchester City pip them.
There was bad news regarding both Jurrien Timber and William Saliba, who are set to miss the last game. The former is undergoing a procedure on his ankle.
“Jurrien has had surgery on Tuesday morning on his ankle,” Arteta explained. “He has been feeling that discomfort for many weeks, and he’s going to be out for a while.”
However, the press were waiting with bated breath for Arteta to give his reaction to the Gunners’ North London rivals lifting the Europa League trophy, ending a 17-year wait for silverware. Perhaps rather unsurprisingly, the Spaniard was gracious in his wording.
“Yeah, congratulate them,” he said. “They are champions, and when you get to that, you have to do a lot of things right.
“They have had a lot of difficulties, you have to congratulate. They have done everything in their hands to win it.”
He was also asked whether Arsenal or Spurs have had a better season. However he replied quickly to shut down any chance of a comparison: “I don’t like to compare with other teams, I focus on my team.”
Arsenal take on Southampton with coverage on football.london starting four hours before the 4.00pm kick-off. Build-up and match updates will be provided in the live matchday blog.
