Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side currently sit five points clear at the top of the Premier League table with 17 games played, 15 points ahead of where they were at this current point last season and five places higher than last.

Ahead of the Gunners’ clash against League One side Oxford United in the FA Cup on Monday night, Vavel UK spoke directly to the Arsenal boss reflecting upon what a successful season the north London club have enjoyed so far and the journey that Mikel Arteta has been on with the Arsenal supporters.

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Upon Arteta’s arrival in N5, he was met with a tense and split Arsenal fanbase that had just waved goodbye to former boss Unai Emery, who was sacked after an underwhelming 18-month period in charge.

The Gunners sat in a miserable eighth place in the Premier League and had still not seen Champions League football played at Emirates Stadium since the 2017/18 season as they announced the appointment of their former player Mikel Arteta.

Fast forward to 17 games played in the 2022/23 Premier League season and things are seriously starting to click for Arteta and his side after just over three years in the Arsenal dugout. The supporters have also taken things to another level, with Emirates Stadium hosting a tremendously improved atmosphere in each home game this season.

Arteta told Vavel UK that the boosted atmosphere surrounding the supporters and the football club is not just down to him but a collective effort from everyone involved.

“It’s great to see the supporters so united but that transformation hasn’t happened overnight,” he said.

“Everyone at the club has contributed for that to happen and the team have had a big say in this as they have brought that belief and that passion that is needed to make the fans proud of the way that the team plays and it is great to see that everyone is excited, buying into what we are doing, and we are all together!”

League One side Oxford United are the hosts for Arsenal’s third-round FA Cup tie on Monday night as Arsenal look to forget about their disappointing defeat to Nottingham Forest in this stage of the competition last season when they crashed out losing 1-0 at the City Ground.

The Kassam Stadium awaits Arsenal on Monday night with the hosts Oxford United having already sold out the ground for the visit of the record 14 time winners of England's oldest cup competition. 

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League One offers some alternate challenges to the Premier League, with many grounds that have stands much closer to the pitch than in England's highest tier of football. Often the quality of pitches can decrease when you look lower down the Leagues too. 

As a player the Arsenal boss Arteta went away to play at a number of EFL sides including Millwall and Peterborough.

When asked by members of the press on how he plans to prepare his players, the Spaniard said he could draw upon his past experience of going to these types of grounds when he was a player.

“I make sure that the players know what to expect," He said.

"I can’t remember everything from when I played but I have flashes of some tough experiences, hopefully we learnt from last year (Defeat to Nottingham Forest). In these types of games we face different challenges, it can be the pitch, opponent, or style of play. We have to get used to it and adapt quickly.”

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Live coverage of Oxford United v Arsenal can be found on ITV 1 and the ITVX player with kick-off at 8 pm on Monday night.

After the tough trip to Oxford the Gunners face an even tougher away game as they travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium to face their deadly north London rivals Tottenham. All the build-up and content ahead of that game can be found right here on VAVEL UK.

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