Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris has suggested Arsenal are the best team in Europe at the moment, ahead of his team’s game against the Gunners.
Arsenal travel away to Sunderland to play at the Stadium of Light on Saturday night, with another opportunity to improve on dropped points from last season.
The Gunners have already turned last season’s defeat away to Aston Villa into a win, and they now have the opportunity to better last season’s 2-2 draw in the north east.
Arsenal comfortably walked to a 3-0 victory against Sunderland at home, but the Black Cats have been a different proposition at their own ground, and it’s up to Saturday’s away side to overcome that.
For what it’s worth, Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris is expecting a very tough game, offering plenty of praise to Arsenal ahead of the match.
“It’s still early in the season but they look so strong everywhere,” Le Bris said. “The bench, every phase, they are just the best team in Europe I think at the minute.
“They have good momentum as well. It’s a good challenge. We need these challenges to get better.
“I think we earned last year (in the Arsenal draw) the opportunity to go again and enjoy it.”
Arsenal will hope to prevent Sunderland taking much enjoyment from the fixture, but they’ve certainly had the tougher preparation for the weekend fixture.
Whilst Sunderland played at home in the League Cup on Tuesday, Arsenal were away in the Champions League on Wednesday. The Gunners are in a run of four consecutive away games, with the Sunderland match followed by trips to Ipswich and then Brighton.
But Mikel Arteta won’t want his team making any excuses. The Premier League is as competitive as ever, and the longer Arsenal can keep their five-game winning run going, the better their chances of sticking around in the title race.
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