Mikel Arteta declares confident stance on issue before Leeds United trip and hails Arsenal feat

Arteta's side took on Norwegian outfit Bodo/Glimt inside the Arctic Circle in a Thursday evening Europa League tie and left with a 1-0 victory thanks to a Bukayo Saka strike. Arteta made seven changes to his side and rested star striker Gabriel Jesus who was not involved.

Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka and keeper Aaron Ramsdale also all dropped to the bench. Former Leeds loan star Ben White, Saka, Martin Odegaard and William Saliba were the only four players to start for Arsenal who also lined up in the weekend’s victory against Liverpool.

The Gunners survived several attempts from the hosts to equalise as the Norwegians proved wasteful in front of goal but Arteta has highlighted how Bodo-Glimt had previously won their last 14 games in European competition on the trot. The Arsenal boss also admitted that there was plenty of room for improvement from his side's display after the interval as Bodo\Glimt pressed for a leveller but that he knew why those issues were arising.

"We are really happy to win here against a team who have won their last 14 games in European competition in a row," said Arteta at his post match press conference as quoted by football.london. "They deserve a lot of credit for that. Not many teams do that.

"We have come here as number 15 and won it. We talked about it in the last few days and that was the challenge in different conditions, in a different context, making a lot of changes and finding a way to win. We’ve done it."Asked if he was happy with the second half, Arteta reasoned: "In the second half, we have a lot of things to improve. We know that. I’m not going to get too deep into that, but I know why this is happening. I think the boys deserve credit for the way they tried. Quality-wise there are obviously a lot of things we can do better but it is another win. Now move on and on to Leeds."