Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko wants to get "revenge" on his former Manchester City team-mates who teased him after the two sides' FA Cup clash in January.
City ran out 1-0 winners in a drab fourth-round affair which marked Zinchenko's first meeting with his old pals since leaving Manchester last summer in a £30million transfer deal. The Ukrainian defender, 26, spent five full seasons with the Citizens and was somewhat awkwardly reunited with his ex-team-mates at the Etihad Stadium, most notably Kyle Walker.
Post-match, a jubilant Walker greeted the disappointed Zinchenko with a huge grin and promptly gave him a bear hug. Being so soon after a defeat, the Arsenal left-back was visibly annoyed with Walker and lost his cool before calming down alongside more of his former team-mates. Now Zinchenko has shed light on the situation, making it clear that it was all fun and games ahead of the Gunners' second clash with City next Wednesday.
Kyle Walker joked with Oleksandr Zinchenko after Man City beat Arsenal in January (Tom Flathers/Manchester City FC via Getty Images)"I still keep in touch with most of them; we are friends and always will be," the Ukraine international, who later swapped shirts with Walker, told Vbet News in his homeland. "Yeah, they won that match, and they were joking with me. But I hope we will get revenge next Wednesday."
Although Zinchenko and his current team-mates will firstly need to focus on their home match against Brentford this Saturday, the mouth-watering matchup between City and Arsenal is arguably the most anticipated fixture of the Premier League season so far.
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The 26-year-old helped Pep Guardiola 's men clinch their fourth title in five seasons last May but is now aiming to deliver the trophy to North London. The Gunners, led by Guardiola's former No.2, Mikel Arteta, are five points clear at the top of the table but still have to face reigning champions City twice in their final 18 games of the campaign.
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Oleksandr Zinchenko was greeted by more of his former Man City team-mates at full-time (Tom Flathers/Manchester City FC via Getty Images)While excitement is bubbling away at the Emirates, Zinchenko is keeping his feet firmly on the ground. "Honestly I'm not going to give any promises because there is still a long way to go," the Gunners left-back admitted.
"There is a lot of talk about our title race but the Premier League is the toughest league in the World and you saw, Everton is in the relegation zone but they beat us. Anything can happen in the league and we just need to go step by step."
Arsenal are tasked with bouncing back from that defeat to Everton when Brentford make the journey across London this weekend. Gunners boss Arteta stated after his team lost only their second league game of the season: "The best way to [bounce back] is to understand who we are, why we've gotten to where we are and then start to do all the basic things right, play the way we want to play, and how to do it better individually and collectively. Then you'll earn the right to win games."
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