BACK AT CITY, ARTETA PLAYS THE NUMBERS

MIKEL ARTETA has called for some perspective as the Premier League rumbles back into action tomorrow.

The Arsenal manager was the first top-flight figure to test positive for coronavirus, a result announced hours after the Gunners’ game against Manchester City had been called off back in March.

So it was perhaps appropriate he should be the first manager to give a pre-match press conference in a different world, one in which that game is finally taking place behind closed doors after a delay of 98 days.

The financial pressure on Arteta to try to deliver Champions League football has grown immeasurably as a result of the shutdown, but football, he insists, has to resume with proper respect paid to the circumstances.

“You try to adapt and make the most out of it,” he said. “Don’t try to find any excuses and go for it and enjoy it. I think we have missed football so much we are desperate to get going.

“It’s been a long process. We’ve been through very different stages, but now we are really excited, back doing what we want to do.”

Of course, preparing for the restart in just four weeks, when Arteta (winning the Premier League trophy last year while at City, right) felt he needed six, is far from perfect and there have been other obvious restrictions.

“One of the things I have learned is how to use different ways to communicate,” he said. “Using technology is one of them but, from my side, it is hard for me to talk to my players and get into them without touching them or seeing them.”

But this brave new world of social distancing – heading into venues and dashing out, and dispensing with the away-day overnight stays – might just suit Arsenal. Because, frankly, their record in more conventional times on their trips to big clubs in the Premier League has been nothing short of woeful.

Arteta was still an injured member of the playing squad the last time the Gunners won away at any of the traditional Big Six sides – a 2-0 victory at the Etihad in January 2015. Five years and 25 unsuccessful attempts have passed since then.

Yet statistics from the rebooted Bundesliga offer a glimmer of hope.

Empty stadiums offer little in the way of home advantage – in fact, behind closed doors, the away team have been more than twice as likely to win as

can ill-afford to let another star player head into the final year of his current deal. The club will look to cash in on Aubameyang (left) – who has cast doubt over his future – if he refuses to sign a contract extension. But Arteta feels Arsenal can help make the decision for the 31-year-old. “We have had discussions with Pierre, his family and his agent and I’m pretty positive we can find the right agreement for all parties,” said the Gunners boss. “It is our responsibility to make him feel that this is the right next step in his career. “He needs to feel valued.