Pablo Zabaleta

Manchester City star Pablo Zabaleta has warned Arsenal ahead of their Premier League meeting on Saturday at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners ran out comfortable 3-0 winners the last time these two teams faced each other for the Community Shield, but the Argentinean has put that loss down to lack of fitness and unavailability of the full squad.

Zabaleta is confident that the team are now much stronger and believes they will only get better from game to game.

"It was the first game of the campaign and the squad were not all back from the summer or 100 per cent fit," Zabaleta said, as quoted on Sky Sports

"We are much stronger than we were a month ago and we will continue to improve and get back into our stride as each game goes by."

However, the City defender admits that Arsenal are also a very good team and expects a 'hard game' at the Emirates on Saturday. The Citizens suffered their first home loss of the season, when they lost 0-1 to Stoke at the Etihad Stadium just prior to the international break.

Zabaleta insists that the Premier League champions are looking to bounce back from that loss and take all three points from the game against Arsenal.

"That said, Arsenal are a very good team and it is always a hard game at the Emirates."

"We are looking to bounce back after the Stoke defeat and we will go there to win three points," the Argentine international added.

Zabaleta picked up an injury while on international duty following a hard tackle from Lukas Podolski, during their 4-1 win over Germany. But the defender has confirmed his availability after stating that he will be 'fully fit' ahead of the Arsenal game.

"It was a hard tackle and I still have some discomfort but it's getting better each day," the City defender explained.

"I've been doing some running on my own earlier in the week but I'll be fine for the game. I still have a couple more days before we play and by then I should be fully fit," Zabaleta concluded.

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