Old friends Arteta and Alonso rekindle Premier League rivalry as Arsenal meet Chelsea

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Xabi Alonso had joined Liverpool six months earlier, and the pair would spend the next five years together on Merseyside, spending time at each other’s houses, enjoying each other’s company away from the Premier League spotlight. But as well, you have to be able to separate what is your profession and what is a human relationship.”Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso go head to head at the Emirates on Sunday (Getty)Arteta and Alonso, who meet on Sunday as managers of Arsenal and Chelsea, were born four months apart and grew up living minutes away from one another in San Sebastian.

We have used that education and those values to be probably more prepared when we have to face difficult moments and challenges, to go for it.”As the son of a Spanish international and Liga title winner, Alonso was born with football in his blood and was always expected to become a professional player. But by the time Arteta had returned from two years at Rangers to join Sociedad, Alonso had left his boyhood club for Liverpool.

Either Arsenal or Chelsea has always been outside the title picture over the past decade, and the two London clubs have not finished inside the Premier League’s top three together since 2015. “Knowing him [Alonso], knowing the history of the club, the quality of the squad that they have, the schedule that they are going to face in relation to other teams [without European football], it is very, very possible [Chelsea will be title contenders].”Arteta says his friendship with Alonso will remain intact, though it will still play out largely behind closed doors, just as it did two decades ago.