Mikel Arteta admitted Sunday’s game against Crystal Palace will be a special one for Eberechi Eze, before insisting the focus is on the team and getting a result.
Eberechi Eze has made more senior appearances for Crystal Palace than any other team, but on Sunday he’ll likely make the starting lineup against his old side for the first time.
It won’t be the first time Eze has ever faced a former club. For a start, he’s played plenty of times against Arsenal, though he had obviously only represented the Gunners as an academy player at that stage.
The midfielder also played for Palace against QPR last season, having spent four years with the Championship side earlier in his career. He scored one goal and assisted one in Palace’s 2-1 League Cup win.
Reflecting on the significance of another game against a former side for Eze this weekend, Mikel Arteta suggested that whilst the occasion will hold special importance to the player, the focus is the team.
“It’s a big game for us, because last season we dropped some points and it’s the fourth game in a row that we’re going to play against opponents that we drop points against, and this season we’ve been able to beat them, so our focus is on that,” Arteta insisted.
“We know that for Ebs it’s going to be a very special match, with the history and what he did for Palace. But the focus is on the team.”
But Arteta did go on to admit that these sorts of fixtures stir up special emotions for the players involved in them.
“There is something in your tummy. There is history, there are a lot of emotions, there are very close relationships,” Arteta added.
“You might think once you step in there and you go with that mindset, someday, you have even more will to win (against your former club) because you made that decision to be successful and to achieve something else in your career. I’m sure Ebs is going to be ready for that.”