Mikel Arteta is warning Arsenal not to take Norwich City lightly in a Boxing Day Premier League tussle at Carrow Road.

The Gunners have won four on the bounce to move into the top four and sealed a League Cup semi-final place with a 5-1 win over Sunderland on Tuesday night.

Dean Smith's squad prop up the rest and have lost the last three but Arteta expects a spicy atmosphere at Carrow Road and a team who deserve respect.

"I think they deserve much more from many, many games - in recent games as well," he said, speaking on Wednesday morning at his pre-match press call. "Under Dean they deserve better results and they haven't got them and we know at their place it will be a really difficult game, if the crowd is there as well you know how special it is on Boxing Day so we expect a tough match.

"There are still a lot of things we need to get much better at, to improve but I think the team is going in the right direction, that is the feeling that I have.

"We didn't pick up any injuries yesterday, obviously before the game we lost Calum (Chambers) with Covid. We are tested every day and we will see how it goes, touch wood."

Arsenal were one of the few Premier League clubs to play last weekend after a raft of Covid-related call offs. The Premier League confirmed on Monday they want clubs to fulfil fixtures over this festive period and Arteta hopes there is no return to games behind closed doors in the weeks ahead.

"Please don't go back to that stage, because we have experienced that and it's something we don't like so hopefully it's not what happens," he said. "It's a different sport. Football is all about sharing it with people and having fans around the stadiums and when it is not, it is a completely different sport and the competition gets lost. It is not the same.

"The clubs have decided and that's the decision that they've made, so we have to carry on. Obviously, we had a preference of what we wanted to do because of the schedule and because of the situation that we are in, but it didn't stop so now we have to play, if we can, every single match with no recovery and with less numbers, but we will try to do our best."