Mikel Arteta believes a win at Manchester City in the Premier League will highlight Arsenal as genuine title contenders, while Aaron Ramsey is more than happy for his side to be seen as the underdogs.

Arsenal have made an unbeaten start to this season, and are coming off the back of two straight Premier League wins - 2-0 away to Liverpool and 6-1 at home against Southampton.

While Arteta knows it is too early for the result at Etihad to make much of a difference, he hopes a win will provide the necessary boost needed to challenge for the title. "It's still too early, whatever happens on Sunday, and I don't think it's going to change anything," the Spaniard told the club's official website. "But if you get points there, and you win then you make a bit of a statement.

"It grows the confidence of the team and everyone around it who believes we are as good as anyone in this league. These are good places to show that.

"It's a huge test for us. We've been playing well. We played really good when we went to Liverpool -- that's a tough place to get three points but we did it.

"(This is) another test. Man City haven't lost at home for a while. We know it's going to be difficult but I'm sure they will be thinking the same thing."

Arteta also stressed City's loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League in midweek will not have had much of an effect on the defending Premier League champions' morale. "It can be like, 'Oh now we need a win to put that on the side'. To be honest, they created a lot of problems for Real Madrid and they went into the last 10 or 15 minutes of the game ahead of them at the Bernabeu, which is not easy at all," he said.

"We know how good they are, how good players their players are and how tough they're going to make it for us. At the same time, they will be a bit scared as well."

Meanwhile, Ramsey is perfectly happy for his team to go about their work and quietly pick up points. "That is a good thing (that people doubt us) -- we are just going about our business," the midfielder said. "We are going about it quietly and hopefully we can continue this good run and see where it takes us.

"In football a lot of changes happen regularly and there are always new faces coming in and going out. It is the same this season, we have had a few new players come in and they have been different class so far. You just learn how to deal with it as a footballer.

"We are confident at the moment and a few players have chipped in with goals this season. That has been an improvement on last year."

Ramsey added the Arsenal players had learnt from last season's mistakes and had more experience in their side, especially after the arrival of the summer signings. "We have had a couple of signings who are experienced, and who are mature as players and people and they have brought that into the team," he said.

"Then there are players such as myself who have had a season of playing in the Premier League and know what it is all about. That helps massively as well.

"We have definitely learned from last season -- we got off to a bad start and finished really strongly. But this time we have started off well so hopefully we can keep that going. It is important that everyone gets on, and that we know exactly on the pitch and we are confident. That is showing in the performances and results we are getting lately.

"We have tightened up at the back, and as a team defensively we are getting into better positions and I think that has shown so far. Everyone is confident and all looking forward to the next game."