ZIN IT TO WIN IT BRIGHTON v ARSENAL

RECORD AGAINST RIVALS IS SO IMPORTANT Gunners have grown up

OLEKSANDR ZINCHENKO says Arsenal going undefeated against their title rivals in the Premier League this season has proved Mikel Arteta’s side are “ready to fight” and “compete with the best teams in the world”.

The Gunners have beaten Liverpool and Manchester

City at home in the Premier League and drawn away at Anfield and the Etihad.

Arenal ended Wednesday night back on top of the table after beaing Luton and next week they face Harry Kane’s Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.

Asked if their record against their title rivals gave them confidence for the run-in, former City star Zinchenko said: “Yes, I won’t lie to you, 100 percent because it shows that we are ready to fight for it and we are ready to compete with the best teams in the world.

Ready

“The result against City was definitely psychologically important. It’s not easy to play against City away and also Liverpool away and the other teams as well – I don’t want to be disrespectful to the others. It shows that Arsenal are ready to fight for it.”

Arsenal led by eight points at the start of April last season before a run of four winless games saw City roar past them.

This Easter they ended a long losing streak at the Etihad Stadium with a goalless draw and recorded a ninth win out of 10 against Luton.

Mikel Arteta has claimed his side have grown from the experiences of last season and by reaching the last eight of the Champions League for the first time since 2010.

“I’m definitely not the guy who’s going to judge that,” said Zinchenko. “But I can say that when I came here I saw already a lot of qualities here and a lot of different players with such a big talent.

“This year all of us, we’ve got more experience, we’ve played with each other much, much more and I think we’re improving. But this job I will leave for you guys who are watching football and you can compare that team and this team. “Our job is to try to do our best on the pitch and just to show our best performance.”

Arteta made five changes for the Luton game – the most he has made this season – but a side without Bukayo Saka and with Declan Rice on the bench coasted to victory.

Depth

Zinchenko, 27, has suffered from a calf injury and has been deputised by Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu as the Arsenal squad shows more depth this season.

The Ukrainian, who won four Premier League titles with

City before his £30m move to Arsenal in 2022, said: “I think it is good for all of us and the team as well that we have good competition in each position.

“We need to fight for it and to work hard to deserve this opportunity to play every single time. I think it is good for all of us.

“Have we got a squad to fight for the Champions League and Premier League? I can’t tell you this right now because there is still a lot of games to play.

“We already have this experience from last season, where we were quite far from the others and then in the end, we didn’t do what we wanted.

This experience we need to take with us and then let’s see what is going to happen.”