Slavia Prague are strong and competitive: Arteta ahead of Europa League match

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said that Slavia Prague are a "really strong side" and have the ability to cause problems throughout the game.

Arsenal are scheduled to take on Slavia Prague in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final on Friday, with the second leg slated to be played on April 16.

"They are a really strong side. They've been unbeaten in the league. You see how they have the ball. I think in the last few years, competing at the highest level, they've always been in the game and made it really difficult," the club's official website quoted Arteta as saying.

"[They're] really competitive, brave, very direct and incisive and a team that can cause you problems throughout the game. They never give up, they have a top attitude all the time and that's why they beat teams because they're a really good side," he added.

In the previous game, Arsenal had suffered a 0-3 defeat at the hands of Liverpool in the Premier League on Sunday. Reflecting on his team's performance, Arteta said they need to improve in "every single area".

"Again, going back to the performance the other day. It's every single area. We have to do much better. I cannot discuss here the specific things that we need to do better. We need to pick up a result, pick up the best possible performance because that's going to allow us to get the result that we want. That's all I'm interested in in the next six or seven weeks," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )