Ruben Dias has aimed a dig at Arsenal ahead of Manchester City’s visit to the Emirates, insisting he does not care about the Gunners and their mind games.
Ruben Dias has become the latest player to have his say ahead of a potentially fiery clash at the Emirates against Arsenal. The Portuguese defender appeared to take a swipe at the Gunners through his comments in the media, insisting he ‘does not care’ about what their opponents are doing and is only focused on himself.
Arsenal host Manchester City at the Emirates in what could be a pivotal clash for either side in the context of their title race. This is an opportunity for Mikel Arteta, as well as counterpart Pep Guardiola, to make a statement of intent towards Liverpool, who secured their fifth win in a row this season and opened up a six-point gap for the time being.
For a long time, coinciding with Arsene Wenger’s final years at Arsenal as well as Guardiola’s early stages at Manchester City, the latter used to dominate this fixture. However, in the last few years, the Gunners have found their steel to battle big teams like City, and they are unbeaten in their last four Premier League games against Guardiola’s side.
In fact, should Arteta manage to ward off another defeat, he could become the first manager to go five games unbeaten against Guardiola. Last season, after a fiery clash at the Etihad, where the Arsenal conceded a late equaliser after being down to ten men for more than a half, they responded with a 5-1 thrashing of Manchester City at the Emirates.
There is bad blood between the two teams, and some of Manchester City’s players like Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias have been having their say in the media. The latter seemingly took a swipe at Arsenal’s ‘mind games’ while his comments in The Sun suggested the defender does not care about others, and is focused on himself and his team.
Ruben Dias said. “I don’t really care about them. I just care about us. If other people want to play games because of rivalries or whatever feeds them, then go ahead. We believe in what we do. And we do it for ourselves, our families, our fans and our club.”
“That’s the way to be — and that’s how you pull off what we pulled off. And nothing is bigger in our minds than knowing we have to be the best version of ourselves. It doesn’t matter who we are playing against.”
It is quite unclear what Dias was responding to, as there have been no remarks or comments from Arsenal or their players ahead of this game. In fact, it is players like Silva and Rodri who have given some comments to the media. In Silva’s case, his comments on Sky Sports went on to suggest that he views Liverpool as a rival and not Arsenal.
Hence, it might come as a surprise to readers who are Arsenal fans looking at Dias’s comments ahead of the big showdown on Sunday. Either way, the clash is set to have a fiery atmosphere, as recent games between Arsenal and Manchester City have had the edge.
