ARTETA WARNS ARSENAL PLAYERS AGAINST UNDERESTIMATING HULL CITY

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By ‘Balogun Ibrahim

Arsenal manager, Mikel Arteta, has cautioned his players against underestimating newly promoted Hull City ahead of their Premier League clash at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

Arteta said he was impressed by Hull’s performances during their promotion campaign and their return to the English top flight, despite the club’s recent struggles to secure victories.

Hull, managed by Sergej Jakirovic, are currently on an eight-match winless run across all competitions. However, they have recorded five draws in their opening nine Premier League matches, losing just twice.

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Speaking ahead of Saturday’s fixture in a statement published on Arsenal’s official website on Friday, Arteta commended Hull for their performances against challenging opponents, adding that his players had been briefed on what to expect.

“It’s been an incredible journey from what the club has done last year.

“Some of the difficult games they’ve come through and competed in, they’ve earned the right to be here and been impressive,” he said.

He added that Arsenal were focused on securing victory, stressing the need for his team to deliver a superior performance.

“We’ve been discussing that with the boys on what to expect from them tomorrow and to be clear on what we need to do to beat them.

“Tomorrow is the main focus of everything we’ve done. We need to go, be better than Hull, and beat them,” Arteta said.

Saturday’s encounter will be the final fixture for both sides before the November international break.

Arsenal are scheduled to travel to face Newcastle United after the break before embarking on a run of 11 consecutive matches in London, seven of which will be played at the Emirates Stadium.

Arteta said his side had managed a demanding fixture schedule effectively, despite facing several tough opponents and extensive travel during the early stages of the 2026/27 campaign.

“We have to navigate with the schedule and have done it really well so far, with a lot of difficult opponents and travel. We want to attack again tomorrow, right from the off,” he said.

He also emphasised the importance of building momentum before the international break, particularly with a demanding schedule ahead in November and December.

The Arsenal manager further stressed that maintaining high standards in both attack and defence would be crucial to the club’s ambition of retaining the Premier League title.

According to him, success depended on the commitment and contributions of every player across all areas of the game, including attacking responsibilities, set-pieces and transitions.

“It does matter, everything matters. You are able to win because of the compromise and commitment of every single player,” Arteta said.

“The same with attack responsibility, anything related to set-pieces, transitions, everything as a whole.

“You need to sustain an incredible level across 10 months and to do that, you need to have everything. Otherwise, you won’t be able to do it.”