The centre-back has called for his team-mates to do the “dirty work” and thinks that a win over the champions will provide a huge boost in confidence
Arsenal centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos believes that the Gunners have the potential to “explode” and get their season back on track if they can get a positive result against Manchester City on Sunday.
The Gunners have been disappointing in the 2019-20 campaign up to now, with poor performances and results ultimately costing Unai Emery his job as he was sacked on November 29.
Freddie Ljungberg has stepped into the fold in an interim capacity while the club search for a permanent successor, with the Swede having overseen one win, two draws and one victory in his first four matches in charge.
Arsenal battled back from two goals down against Standard Liege on Thursday to book their place in the Europa League knockout stages as group winners as Ljungberg rang the changes.
Domestically, though, the north Londoners are struggling for consistency and find themselves in ninth place in the Premier League table.
They did manage to beat West Ham 3-1 in their last league fixture but are still seven points behind fourth-placed Chelsea in the race to finish in the top four.
Sokratis was absent from Ljungberg’s first game in charge, a 2-2 draw with Norwich City, but has since started the last three games for the Gunners.
And he is confident that, if they can pull off a big win and beat Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday then that will be the catalyst to help them revive their season.
He said, as quoted by the London Evening Standard: “Of course, it is a very difficult game. Sometimes, these are games where you can explode. We need one good game in our home to explode.”
The 31-year-old wants to see more from his team-mates and has insisted they have to do the “dirty work” to start getting consistent results.
He added: “You have to have quality but to show the quality you have to first show intensity, win the duels, be organised.
“The team has quality, but to show the quality you have to do the dirty work. If you do the dirty work and you’re organised, you can win. But first of all, you have to work on intensity, pace and organisation.”
After coming up against the defending Premier League champions, Arsenal will look ahead to a clash with Everton at Goodison Park on December 21.
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