Arteta puts friendship with Guardiola aside for title race

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta said his relationship with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola "had to change” with the two clubs battling for the Premier League title.The two sides face off at the Etihad tomorrow with just one point separating third-placed City from leaders Arsenal. Arteta served as Guardiola’s assistant for three-and-a-half years at City before taking his first managerial job at the Emirates in 2019.Under Arteta, Arsenal have risen back into contention for major honours, but have still not won the Premier League since 2004. "It had to change,” said Arteta at his pre-match press conference on how his relationship with Guardiola has evolved."My admiration and what I feel for him certainly hasn’t. In my opinion he’s the best coach in the world by a mile and he’s one of the nicest people that I’ve met in football. Certainly he’s one of the ones that I’ve had the most fun and laughter working with. That’s going to stay there forever. At the moment the rules are what they are and you’re going to have to adapt to it.”In contrast to Arsenal’s lack of success over the past two decades, City are aiming to rewrite the record books once more under Guardiola by becoming the first side to ever win four consecutive English top-flight titles. City have won the Premier League in five of the last six years and remain on course to repeat the treble they won last season."They have raised the bar in this league and football in general to levels that haven’t been seen before,” added Arteta. "That’s the beauty of this sport because it makes you better and challenges you more. You have to keep up with that pace and that’s what we’re trying to do. It’s a massive game for both teams. It will give us a huge boost again if we go there and win it.”City will be without the key defensive duo of John Stones and Kyle Walker after they picked up injuries on international duty with England. Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes all pulled out of their international call-ups but Arteta is hoping all three will be fit to feature tomorrow. "There is a chance,” said Arteta. "They haven’t trained but tomorrow we have another session so there is a chance that they can be available.”Walker and Stones were injured on international duty with England. Walker was replaced early during a 1-0 defeat to Brazil with a hamstring problem, while Stones limped off in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Belgium due to an adductor issue. The absence of the key defensive duo is also a worry for City with the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final away to Real Madrid on April 9. "Kyle’s (injury is) more tough than John’s but they will be out - I don’t know for how many games,” said Guardiola on Friday.However, there was more positive news for Guardiola as Ederson, Manuel Akanji, Jack Grealish and Kevin De Bruyne all look set to return from injury. De Bruyne, who sat out City’s 2-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Newcastle before the international break, has suffered an injury-plagued season after missing the first five months of the campaign with a hamstring tear.However, the 32-year-old has provided 12 assists and scored twice in 12 appearances for City this season when fit. "Kevin is so important,” added Guardiola. "It has been a tough season for him with injuries. He has been out for a long time but he trained really well on Friday. We will see what he does in the next days.”De Bruyne scored twice in City’s 4-1 win over Arsenal at the Etihad last season that proved a telling blow to the Gunners’ title aspirations. Guardiola’s men also remain on course to repeat their treble triumph of last season. The winners of City’s Champions League tie against Madrid will play either Arsenal or Bayern Munich in the last four. City also face Chelsea in the FA Cup semi-finals next month."This season has been really good,” said Guardiola. "To be in contention for the three important titles now, we’ve done incredible work. Now it’s the last 10 games of Premier League, we start an important time. We play the leaders of the Premier League and I’m sure the people (City’s fans) will give us what we need to perform at our best.”FixturesToday (1500 GMT unless stated): Newcastle v West Ham (1230), Bournemouth v Everton, Chelsea v Burnley, Nottingham Forest v Crystal Palace, Sheffield United v Fulham, Tottenham v Luton, Aston Villa v Wolves (1730), Brentford v Manchester United (2000)Sunday: Liverpool v Brighton (1300), Manchester City v Arsenal (1530)