Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta admits last season's thrashing at Manchester City was a difficult experience.

Arsenal return to City today after last term's 4-1 hammering.

Asked about last season, Arteta said: “Not nice, I guarantee you.

“I don't want to go through that again because we knew after that it was going to be very difficult, something that we fought for that many months. It was a different timing as well."

On City, he continued: “They have earned the right, for seven or eight years with what they have done.

“To everybody who believes they can do it again, they have given no reason to anybody else to think they cannot do it, so we have to give them the reasons.

“We haven't done it so we cannot expect to be spoken about like City or Liverpool at the moment because we haven't done it.

“We have to do what we feel and what the team needs and try to shape that up. They are in the best possible mindset and they are convinced and they have a feeling they can beat any opponent. We can use different tools to do that."