Chelsea winger Raheem Sterling praised Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta for his work ahead of Sunday’s derby at Stamford Bridge.
Arsenal have been one of the most consistent sides in the Premier League side this season, having dropped points just twice (one loss and one draw) from the 12 matches they have played so far.
The north London outfit are currently 10 points ahead of Chelsea, who had an underwhelming start to the season and currently sit seventh in the table.
According to Sterling, Arsenal’s excellent form is thanks to their manager, Arteta.
“Everyone probably can see they’ve had a great start to the season,” the England international said ahead of the match (via Chelsea’s official website).
“They [Arsenal] are playing some beautiful stuff and Mikel’s got them playing some free-flowing football, that’s for sure.
“It’s a team that they’ve been building for a few years now. That’s what we’re looking to do, to keep building, and it’s a game that I think will be a really interesting one.
“They’re a possession-dominant team and so are ourselves, so I think it will be a good match.”
Chelsea and Arsenal rank third (60.2 percent) and fourth (57.9 percent), respectively, in terms of average possession in the Premier League this season.
The Gunners, however, are far ahead of Chelsea in scoring goals. The former have already scored 30 goals in the league this season, 13 more than Chelsea (17).
Obviously, unlike Arteta, Graham Potter has not had very limited time to work with his team, so it will take time before he can get the best out of the Chelsea players.
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