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Granit Xhaka: We've changed our mentality at Arsenal

Granit Xhaka says Arsenal have discovered a "new mentality".

Arsenal have won all five of their opening Premier League games, a feat they have not achieved since the 2004-05 season, and they head to Old Trafford on Sunday to face Manchester United top of the table.

“I think it was the biggest goal for us, to change this mentality," said Xhaka. “I've been here seven years and I saw a lot of things, good and bad things, but we were always struggling a little bit in this way. You could play good football, everything looks good, but sometimes the 50-50 ball, the 50-50 games, you have to take it for you. I think today we won the 50-50 duels as well.

“Then you turn everything around and you start to believe with each other a little more. The fans start to believe in us as well and this is football. It's not only with the ball, but without the ball as well. I think the game-changer at the moment is the mentality."

The midfielder has also singled out manager Mikel Arteta for making sure players keep their standards high in training.

“It doesn't matter what we do in the training, if it's ball possession, if it's games, small games against each other, he is putting us on a list — who is the winner, who is the loser — and in the end you can see the table," said Xhaka. “This is what we have to do. We have to put each other in a big challenge, you can see we have a big squad."

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Paul Vegas

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