Arsenal are competing in the Premier League title race with Liverpool and Manchester City, but one player is far from happy about it.
Man City defender Kyle Walker has previous allegiances to Tottenham Hotspur, and as such, holds a dislike for Arsenal, which is returned in favour by the fans.
With Man City set to face Liverpool tomorrow, and Arsenal after the International break, tensions are running high in the title race, with Liverpool and City players firing shots at each other ahead of their clash at Anfield.
Mikel Arteta’s squad has stayed silent for the most part, focusing on their own game, but Walker has now aimed a dig at the Gunners, when asked about their title credentials.
Kyle Walker aims dig at Arsenal during title race
Speaking to Rio Ferdinand on FIVE, Walker fired a sly shot at Arsenal, pointing out that Arteta, Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko were all at Man City, and claimed that he did not want them to win the league.
“I think you’ve taken our assistant coach as your manager,” he stated in reference to Arteta.
“You’ve got [Oleksandr] Zinchenko that I think is a very big part of it. And Gabi [Gabriel Jesus]. But I’ll give you credit, it’s a very, very good team now. A very good team.
When asked about Arsenal’s 1-0 victory over City earlier this season, Walker did admit that it was a deserved result, but pointed out what happened in the reverse fixture last season.
“The better team won on the day. Still a lot of games to play.
“Remember the last time they came to the Etihad? Come to the Etihad, we’ll see. We will see.
Walker was then asked if his Spurs connections are playing a part in his views, and he claimed that he did not want to see Arsenal win the league as a result.
“It’s so hard. I don’t want Arsenal [to win] because of Tottenham,” he replied.
“I just don’t want Arsenal.”
Arsenal players need to ignore Kyle Walker’s comments
In last season’s title race collapse, Arsenal arguably let Man City get into their heads too much and distract them.
Players such as Martin Odegaard have recently highlighted how Arsenal simply need to focus on their own game without thinking about Man City too much.
Whilst it would be easy for a player to get riled up and fire a shot back at Walker, Arteta and his side just need to focus on their next two games against Brentford and Porto before thinking about City, and when the time comes, they can do their talking on the pitch at the Etihad Stadium.
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