Mikel Arteta will go all out for victory in Sunday’s Premier League title showdown at Manchester City and has not thought for “one second” about setting up for a draw.

Arsenal are six points clear of City, albeit they have played an extra game, and a stalemate could move them decisively towards the trophy they crave. According to Opta’s projections, Arsenal would have an 89% probability of winning the title if it finished all square at the Etihad Stadium.

Arsenal have struggled for attacking cohesion in recent weeks, starting in the 2-0 Carabao Cup final defeat against City on 22 March, and their season has been defined by defensive excellence. When they advanced to the Champions League semi-finals on Wednesday, where they will face Atlético Madrid, they did so with a 0-0 home draw against Sporting for a 1-0 aggregate quarter-final win. It has raised the prospect of Arteta prioritising a clean sheet at City, but he has a loftier target.

Pep Guardiola repeated his belief on Friday that “if we lose, it’s over”. Arteta intends to test the theory and he was categoric in his response when asked whether he would sign in advance for a point. “No,” he said. “We want to win the game. We are there to win the game. We haven’t talked about that [the draw]. We need to win the game. And we are preparing to win the game. There’s no difference to any stadium we have been to in the last five years.

“I’m not going to spend one second talking about that. We prepare every game to win. That’s why we are where we are and we’re going to continue to do the same. We see it as a big opportunity for us.”

Arsenal were accused of parking the bus when they drew 0-0 at the Etihad Stadium in 2024. Back then, with nine more games to go, it felt like a good point as it kept them one ahead of City, albeit two behind Liverpool. Arsenal went on to win eight of their final nine, losing against Aston Villa, but, as Liverpool fell apart, City won all nine remaining games to take the title.

When it was all over, Rodri criticised Arsenal for their mentality. “The difference was in the head,” said the City midfielder. “When they faced us at the Etihad, I saw these guys do not want to beat us. They just want to draw. We would not do that the same.”

Arteta was reminded of that 0-0 and how the season played out. “You have to make it [the point] good, as well, in the next games,” he said. “Or, we should have made it even better in that game [against City] when we had the opportunity to do it. We’re going to play the game in the circumstances and the context in the best possible way to win it, and the outcome? We don’t know.

“We’re not going to propose a game like this [parking the bus] because we never do that. Sometimes, the opponent is that good that forces you to be there, and in City’s case you’re going to have moments that you do the same – deep in your box for periods of time. That’s the reality.”

Arsenal have scored only three goals in their past five matches as the physical and mental strain of the season has started to show. Declan Rice said after the second leg against Sporting that the team had to do the basics better, especially simple, short passes. The midfielder called for greater composure.

“It’s part of football,” Arteta said. “Part of the moment. Part of, as well, when you are missing certain players that the relationship, the cohesion, is a bit different. To work on that means sometimes don’t talk too much about it and take more honesty, more responsibility and do it again.”

Arteta said that Bukayo Saka was still out with an achilles problem. He was unclear as to whether Jurriën Timber, Riccardo Calafiori and Martin Ødegaard would return from their respective injuries. Arteta intimated that Noni Madueke should be available after limping off against Sporting.

“I’ve said it many times – get all the players available in April, May … your best players on the pitch as much as possible and the probability to win it increases dramatically,” Arteta said. “It’s as simple and as difficult as that.”