Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate insists his side will not underestimate Arsenal.
Riverside boss hopes for a repeat on Saturday
Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate insists his side will not underestimate Arsenal on Saturday.
Boro welcome the Gunners to The Riverside hoping to repeat last season's home Premier League victory, which ended their visitor's unbeaten start to the domestic campaign.
However, Arsene Wenger's team travel to Teesside this term in far less impressive form and on the back of a UEFA Champions League defeat at Porto.
Boro have, therefore, been made favourites by some, but Southgate points to Arsenal's victories over Manchester United and Chelsea earlier in the season as examples of the potential of Wenger's men.
"I'm glad that they beat Chelsea and Manchester United because that reminds people of what a good team they are capable of being," Southgate told
Sky Sports News.
Danger
"There is a danger, not as a team but maybe outside the dressing room, of thinking that it is a game you should win and that it will be a walk over.
"They are a top side. To beat the top sides you have got to work unbelievably hard, play well and have a little bit of the rub of the green.
"They are a team I respect greatly. The manager is one of the best in the world and in recent weeks they have shown what they are capable of doing.
"Having said that, last season they came here and were unbeaten and we managed to get a win so we hope to do the same again."
Tuncay specualtion
Meanwhile, Southgate has laughed off suggestions that Chelsea could get their hands on striker Tuncay Sanli for £8million.
The Blues are reportedly ready to launch a bid to take the 26-year-old Turkey international to Stamford Bridge when the transfer window opens in January.
He said: "I was quite amused at the figure they put on his head because the club that were linked pay double that for full-backs.
"As you go towards January, you know it can be an unsettling period at all football clubs because speculation runs wild, it's the nature of the transfer window.
"We have to do all we can to try to keep our best players, and if we can add to the squad, we will try to do that."
