Thierry Henry shares concerns about Arsenal mentality ahead of City showdown

Thierry Henry has opened up about his major concern for Arsenal as the Gunners prepare for a weekend showdown with Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Arsenal welcome Manchester City to the Emirates Stadium this weekend in a meeting between the two clubs who finished second and third respectively, behind champions Liverpool, last season.

While Manchester City have recorded victory against fierce rival Manchester United this season, Arsenal lost their match against title rival Liverpool.

A stunning Dominik Szoboszlai free-kick in the 83rd minute proved to be the difference at Anfield, though Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was criticised for a rather conservative approach.

Dominik Szoboszlai scores Liverpool’s first goal in a free kick during the Premier League match clash against Arsenal. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)

Henry has now insist that his former club need to change how they approach the big games in order to get over the line and win a trophy, noting that they should not be happy with a point against City on Sunday.

Speaking on CBS Sports following Arsenal’s 2-0 Champions League win over Athletic Club, Henry said: “Not only [there], it happened so many times.

“I’m sure you remember that game where we lost 2-0 to Aston Villa at home [in 2024]. He [Arteta] takes a striker out and puts in a holding midfielder, at that moment he thought about not losing the game, we ended up losing, [Ollie] Watkins scored, if we won that game we were ahead of Man City and who knows what would happen.

“I’m just saying, if you want to win the league, you have to go and get it.

“When you play for the title you need to go and get it. Not playing not to lose games. If you want to beat Liverpool or Man City, you’ve got to go and get it, you cannot enter a game with, ‘let’s not lose it’.

Last season, Arsenal defeated Man City 5-1 at home in successive seasons, winning 5-1 back in February with Myles Lewis-Skelly scoring his first senior goal for the club.

Arsenal have beaten Man City at home in successive seasons, winning 5-1 back in February and it’s left to be seen if the trend will continue this season.