Ruben Dias fires icy message to Arsenal as Man City plan revenge - 'I don't really care about them'

Manchester City take on Arsenal at the Emirates as they look to make amends for the 5-1 defeat they suffered there last season

Ruben Dias has warned Arsenal that Manchester City are out to make a point on Sunday when they return to the Emirates after a humbling 5-1 defeat.

City had bested Arsenal in the two Premier League title races to become the first team in English football to win four leagues in a row - and had added to the bad blood between the clubs in the process. Rodri rubbed Arsenal noses in defeat in 2024 by questioning their mentality, and Erling Haaland mocked Mikel Arteta at the end of another fiery game later that year by urging him to 'stay humble'.

Coming up against a City team that was wrecked by injuries and poor form at the beginning of 2025, Arsenal conceded just before the hour mark to make the scoreline level again but romped away with the result to crush Pep Guardiola's side 5-1. To make things even more galling for the Blues, teenager Myles Lewis-Skelly imitated Haaland's lotus celebration pose when he scored and Kendrick Lemar's Humble belted out of the PA system at full-time.

City had to, in the words of Dias previously, take their medicine last season and it hurt a squad of champions to be so far off the pace last season. They head back to the Emirates as second favourites for the game and lower than that for the league title, with champions Liverpool still the team to beat.

Dias did not want to be drawn on how Arsenal have got under City's skin, but (with some prodding) did emphasise how the unrivalled and unprecedented success that they have enjoyed at the Etihad has been done by focusing on themselves rather than other teams or rivalries.

"To be honest, I don't really care about them. I just care about us," he said. "All I have to say is what I know from our side. We play games to win for ourselves. For our families, our people.

"If other people want to play games because of rivalries, or whatever feeds them, then go ahead. Be what you want to be.

"We believe in what we do. And we do it for ourselves, our families, our loved ones, our fans and our club.

"That's the way to be - and that's how you pull off what we pulled off. That's what we believe in - and nothing is bigger in our minds than knowing we have to be the best version of ourselves. It doesn't matter who we are playing against.

"I wouldn't say it's that we have something to prove, it's more that we want to win. We are very aware of what happened last season, and I feel like, in a way, that's a good fear.

"You know what I mean? Realising some situations where we were, and now being in this position and starting over, knowing everything we need to do not to get ourselves in those positions again."

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