Arsenal news: Mikel Arteta gets advice off Man Utd icon as former transfer target sends warning

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Arsenal will be aiming to keep their dreams of a Premier League and Champions League double alive against Sporting CP on Wednesday night. The Gunners will face the Portuguese outfit in the return leg of their quarter-final clash at the Emirates Stadium.

Currently, Mikel Arteta's team hold a slim 1-0 lead on aggregate after Kai Havertz netted in the 91st minute to take the advantage back to north London. Now, focus will be on keeping that lead for 90 minutes to reach the semi-finals to face either Barcelona or Atletico Madrid .

Arsenal stumbled in the Premier League at the weekend, losing 2-1 to Bournemouth to allow Manchester City to claw back their lead at the top. Arteta admitted the loss was a "big punch in the face" but urged focus on Europe to build back momentum.

He said: "But I just want to focus on the things that we can control, dominate and we have done. It's not like we have to do a lot of new things that we haven't done, no, let's keep doing a lot of it.

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"We need to learn, we need to be very critical to ourselves, and then pick ourselves up, because on Wednesday we have a big one coming up."

Here, Mirror Football has the latest coming out of the red side of north London.

Rio Ferdinand has demanded Arsenal fix their tactics ahead of their showdown against Manchester City or they'll "get pumped." The Manchester United icon, who has won the Premier League title six times, believes that the Gunners can't sit back and allow City to bring their game at the Etihad Stadium.

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Speaking on his YouTube channel, Rio Ferdinand Presents , the former defender said: "If you go there and sit back like Liverpool did at PSG the other day, it's slapsville. You're getting pumped. You can't do that. Do you win leagues doing that?"

Ferdinand highlighted Bournemouth's success against Arsenal at the weekend, noting that Arteta could take some lessons from this defeat into their potentially title-deciding clash. He added: "This is glaring, the way City set up to block all passing lanes, pressing high.

"I don't think Bournemouth went four up the pitch as glaring in exactly the same way. They were great in terms of blocking passing lanes making Arsenal having to go over it or just panic a little bit and give the ball away.

"I think, is that the blueprint? Bournemouth have copied it their own way. Mikel Arteta and his team haven't found an answer yet. It wasn't a good performance. At least get about and put it on some players."

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Marc Guehi believes City have shown they have what it takes to "step up" and steal the title from Arsenal . The defender opted for Manchester in January after leaving Crystal Palace for a £30million fee, despite gaining keen interest from the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal .

Following their Carabao Cup victory over the Gunners, Guehi confirmed that City have taken confidence from securing silverware and are eager for more. He said: "In these moments it’s about stepping up, the players stepping up, the team stepping up and I said it last week, it’s about arriving at the right moment.

"I hope we’re arriving. The trophy definitely gave us a lot of confidence. It doesn’t matter what trophy it is, it’s a trophy and it helps the football club so everyone is just focused on the next day, the next game and just try and be consistent as possible.

"Always, it always gives you belief and it does help everyone. We hope we can win more, that’s the aim. That’s the target."

The England international insisted they are not checking the north London club's run of form but instead will focus on their own quality to help them get over the line. Guehi added: "Like I said, the most important is controlling what we can control. We can’t control what Arsenal did. We did our job and got the three points.

"I just want to play every game, it doesn’t matter when, where or what type of game. I’m just glad to be at this football club and to be given the opportunity to do so.