Mikel Arteta says Arsenal’s Irish staff have warned him about “passionate underdogs” Dundalk ahead of their Europa League meeting.
The 14-time Republic of Ireland champions makes the short trip to the Emirates to face an Arsenal side that lost at home to Leicester on Sunday – although they did win their European opener against Rapid Vienna – as Dundalk lost to Molde, despite taking a first-half lead.
The gap between the two sides is enormous in terms of quality, finances, and resources but Arteta knows his team will be in for a tricky fixture against a side that has nothing to lose after qualifying for the Europa League group stage for only the second time in their history.
Dundalk is ranked No 127 in the UEFA club coefficients for 2020/21, making them the highest-ranked Irish side in Europe, and in 2016 they became the first team from Ireland to win a match in a group stage of European competition.
“We’ve got some Irish staff here,” said Arteta, whose side reached the Europa League final in 2019 but were eliminated at the last-32 stage last term when they were stunned 2-1 at home to Greek side Olympiakos.
“I’ve heard some really positive things about Dundalk. What I’ve seen is a really determined coach, how united they are, they are really well organized, and they fight really hard.
