ARSENAL boss Mikel Arteta says he will be showing no sentiment at Goodison Park and wants to turn the home crowd on struggling Everton.
Ex-Toffees midfielder Arteta will take his Gunners side to Merseyside on Monday evening aiming to revive their bid to qualify for the Champions League.
Arsenal lost to old foes Manchester United in midweek and will start the game seventh in the table and four points off the top four.
Rafa Benitez’s Everton are on a run of eight Prem games without a win and their supporters are losing patience with a side flirting with the drop zone.
Arteta, who spent six years playing for Everton under David Moyes, said: “I have been at Goodison in great moments and I can tell you as a player the atmosphere is incredible.
“It’s pretty difficult to assess what is actually happening from watching on TV, but I imagine when that crowd is not with the team it is harder for them to play.
“I know Rafa Benitez personally and, with the experience he has, he knows much better than me how to handle these kind of situations.
“But when you’re competing with a manager who is under pressure, you must go toe to toe because they are going to do the same for sure.”
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Despite their inconsistency, Arsenal have show this season they are a match for the majority of teams in the division apart from title-chasing trio Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea.
He said: “When you look at the league table, the top three teams are really consistent and they win with big margins.
“They look superior to the rest and it’s clear that there is a gap there.
“But for the group of teams behind them there is a lot of balance and not much between us.
“So now we need to find the consistency in results and go for the top four.”
And Arteta believes it is time for midfielder Thomas Partey, signed for £45million from Atletico Madrid last year, to prove his worth after injury frustration.
The Spaniard added: “The supporters have seen the quality Thomas can bring and they want to see that more often.
“The frustration is not related to the money we paid for him. It is because he can produce more and he knows that.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
