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Soccer-Arsenal boss Arteta relishing first Premier League duel with Chelsea's Alonso

Sept 4 (Reuters) - Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is ⁠relishing the prospect of facing long-time friend Xabi Alonso in the Premier League for the first time ⁠when the defending champions host Chelsea on Sunday.

The Star MalaysiaReuters2026-09-04 15:42查看原文 ↗

Soccer Football - Premier League - Chelsea v Brighton & Hove Albion - Stamford Bridge, London, Britain - August 30, 2026 Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso reacts REUTERS/David Klein

Both sides have made perfect starts to the season, withArsenal ‌and Chelsea both taking six points from their opening two matches.

Arteta and Alonso, both 44, grew up together in Spain's Basque Country and have remained close throughout their playing and coaching careers.

The pair first faced each other as managers in a friendly in 2024 when Alonso was in charge of Bayer Leverkusen, but Sunday's encounter will be their first meeting ⁠in England's top flight.

"I am really happy for ⁠him. It's incredible because obviously we have the history we have together," Arteta told reporters on Friday.

"To be facing ⁠each ‌other at such a level and with the responsibility we have managing some of the top clubs in the country is a really beautiful thing to experience."

Chelsea's attack has been impressive early in the campaign, with ⁠Morgan Rogers, Joao Pedro and Cole Palmer all finding form in front of goal, but Arteta said controlling ‌the flow of the game would be crucial.

"That will depend on a lot of factors and game state ⁠is a massive one, especially because the two games that they played, they scored very, very early and that changes the momentum and the shift of the game," Arteta said.

"But they are capable and he's capable of playing in various ways. He’s been a really successful manager ⁠so far."

Arsenal were linked with a number of high-profile attacking targets during the transfer window, includingRogers, Julian Alvarez and Vinicius Junior, but their only forward addition was Greece winger Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge.

Arteta, however, brushed off suggestions that Arsenal had fallen short in the market.

"I don't know, these are just opinions," ⁠the Spaniard said.

"The window is closed and I prefer to look at all the incredible things that we have in this squad and not to spend any more time on the things that are not part of us right now. That's it and that's my main responsibility."

Arsenal will lean heavily on the likes of Kai Havertz, Viktor Gyokeres and Bukayo Saka but Arteta insisted the attack is not weaker compared to last season ⁠despite the departures of Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Jesus and Gabriel Martinelli

"We have to understand the amount of minutes that those players played and the ones that were injured last year, especially in the ‌first six months, and the data shows something completely different," Arteta said.

"But it is what it is. It is what we have and, as I said before, we already have some very, very good players."

(Reporting by Karan Prashant Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)

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足球 - 英超联赛 - 切尔西对阵布莱顿 - 斯坦福桥球场，伦敦，英国 - 2026年8月30日切尔西主教练哈维·阿隆索做出反应路透社/大卫·克莱因

9月4日（路透社）——卫冕冠军阿森纳主教练米克尔·阿尔特塔非常期待在周日主场迎战切尔西的比赛中，首次在英超联赛中与老朋友哈维·阿隆索交锋。

双方本赛季都取得了完美的开局，阿森纳和切尔西都在前两场比赛中取得了6分。

阿尔特塔和阿隆索都44岁，他们在西班牙巴斯克地区一起长大，并在球员和教练生涯中一直保持着密切的联系。

两人首次以教练身份交锋是在 2024 年的一场友谊赛中，当时阿隆索执教勒沃库森，但周日的比赛将是他们在英格兰顶级联赛中的首次交锋。

“我真为他高兴。这太不可思议了，因为我们之间有着很深的渊源，”阿尔特塔周五告诉记者。

“能够在这样的水平上彼此较量，并且肩负着管理国内顶级俱乐部的责任，这真是一件非常美好的事情。”

切尔西在赛季初期的进攻表现令人印象深刻，摩根·罗杰斯、若昂·佩德罗和科尔·帕尔默都在门前找到了状态，但阿尔特塔表示，控制比赛节奏至关重要。

“这取决于很多因素，比赛形势是一个非常重要的因素，尤其是因为他们踢的两场比赛，都很早就取得了进球，这改变了比赛的势头和走向，”阿尔特塔说。