Fabregas anticipates tough season for Arsenal
Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has said he will not let his team's positive start to the season cause him to lose focus on the challenges ahead.
Arsene Wenger's team has collected ten points from four league games, drawing the opening fixture away to Liverpool and winning the following three, and handed Portuguese team SC Braga a resounding 6–0 defeat at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.
The team's victories in the Premier League this season include two difficult away fixtures against Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers — both teams that have taken points from Arsenal in recent years.
Despite the resolute victories, Fabregas insisted that the team must continue to improve.
"I am not going to read too much into our beating both Blackburn and Bolton — in previous years we might have done the same thing before collapsing against the big sides, so it's best that we just keep going, keep improving and keep making things difficult
for whoever we face," the midfielder said.
Sunderland could cause problems
On Saturday, Arsenal travel to face Sunderland, another team that have caused the Londoners problems over the years by playing an imposing, physical game.
"Last season we didn't do well at the Stadium of Light," said Fabregas, who missed a couple of attempts during last season's encounter. "But it was straight after an international break and we were perhaps a bit tired, so we hope for better this time."
The Spaniard has experienced many strong starts to Arsenal's league season. In 2007–2008, the team looked certain to challenge for the title until a string of four consecutive draws beginning in February ended their hopes of winning the league.
"We would have preferred 12 [points], but we are up there, we are second, and now we need to guard against losing more points because we will need everything we can get at the end of the season."
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