sport news How 'student' Mikel Arteta learnt from Pep Guardiola to turn Arsenal into title ... trends now
Mikel Arteta's surprise title challengers are flying. Arsenal sit five points clear of Man City with a game in hand after Sunday's dramatic 3-2 win against Man United.
The Spaniard - who spent more than three years as Guardiola's assistant at the Etihad between 2016-2019 - is showing why he's always been so highly-rated as a coach.
Understandably, with Arsenal's success and Arteta's experience under the City boss, there have been several parallels made between the sides over recent months regarding the way they play.
Arsenal are flying high at the top of the Premier League table, five points clear of Man City
Mikel Arteta spent more than three years as assistant manager to Pep Guardiola at City
'It's Arsenal's title to throw away now,' Paul Merson said earlier this month after the Gunners dispatched Tottenham 2-0 to go eight points clear in the Premier League.
'That first half performance was like watching Man City. If you had been living in New Zealand and hadn't seen football for four years and they were in light blue - you'd have thought that was Man City.'
Guardiola and Arteta enjoyed an immensely positive working relationship during their time together and have regularly spoken about their mutual admiration for each other, with the Gunners boss calling Guardiola his 'idol' in the past.
City won two Premier League titles in three seasons when Arteta was assistant at the Etihad before he left to take the Arsenal hot seat in December 2019.
Arteta left City to become Arsenal manager more than three years ago in December 2019
With Arteta returning to a club where he made 150 appearances over five years, including a spell as captain, it is clear it was a job he was always keen for at a team close to his heart.
In fact, Guardiola has since revealed how Arteta was so passionate about his former club, he wouldn't celebrate when City scored against the Gunners.
'I know he went to his club. The team he dreams of,' he told his pre-match press conference ahead of this Friday's FA Cup fourth round tie between the teams.
'He's a supporter, he was a captain there. He loves the club. I remember here when we scored goals he jumped a lot except against one team.
'He was sitting there - it was Arsenal. I said "that guy likes Arsenal".'
During their time working together at City, Guardiola's side won two league titles in three years
After a slow re-building process, that has required significant patience from the Arsenal faithful, the Gunners became just the fifth team in Premier League history to reach 50 points after 19 games last week.
It has led to many proclaiming how Arteta has turned from the student to the master, with his former master now desperately chasing him down in an attempt to retain the title.
The top two sides still have to play each other twice in the league but they face this potentially crucial cup tie tonight, with a chance to strike a psychological blow on their title rival.
In light of that, Sportsmail looks at what Arteta has learnt from Guardiola that led to him turning the Gunners into title challengers.
Arteta continues to impress in the Gunners hot seat after he learned plenty from Guardiola
The term 'inverted full-back' has become synonymous with Guardiola ever since he came to English football with the Spaniard known for playing the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Joao Cancelo as one during his time at City.
So when Arsenal brought in Zinchenko for £30m in the summer, Arteta has used the Ukrainian in this role to help transform the team.
Despite being on the team-sheet at left-back, Zinchenko tucks infield to join Thomas Partey in midfield, allowing Granit Xhaka to push forward and join Martin Odegaard in more attacking areas.
This effectively creates a box of four midfielders, enabling the Gunners to overload central areas and dominate games, while they have also become more flexible and unpredictable in midfield as a result
Arteta's use of Oleksandr Zinchenko as an inverted left-back has had a huge impact on Arsenal
Zinchenko is extremely technically sound and his impact was exemplified by his role in Eddie Nketiah's winner against Manchester United.
The use of full-backs has been seen on the other side too, with Ben White - a natural centre-back, featuring in a similar role to the one Kyle Walker has performed over recent years for City.
Like Walker, White often comes inside to act as a third centre-back which provides extra defensive solidity on the transition.
But White has also shown his attacking prowess at times when he has overlapped Bukayo Saka and, along with Zinchenko, the pair have been crucial in the Gunners' success.
Ben White has also impressed at right-back, with the natural centre-back tucking in at times
City goalkeeper Ederson is widely-regarded as the best Premier League goalkeeper on the ball and he is crucial to their build-up play.
Arteta was ruthless in his decision to replace Bernd Leno - an
