Arteta makes a joke about the wife swap as he reveals the Arsenal aces are friends after the bust

MIKEL ARTETA had reporters in hot water after she made an awkward joke about Ben White and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

The two Arsenal stars had to be physically forced apart after a furious clash following their 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest.

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It is understood the two clashed due to the late goal Arsenal conceded to Taiwo Awoniyi when he found the net in the 89th minute after Zinchenko was punched in the air in the build-up to the goal.

But during his press conference ahead of Arsenal's match against Liverpool on Sunday, Arteta said the two were back on good terms.

He even joked that the terms were so good that they shared each other's wives.

He said: 'They have been in the same house for the last three days, sharing their wives and everything.

'That's fine. They now live together and are best friends.'

The comment seemed to catch the reporters present by surprise and made some of them laugh.

Arteta had told TNT Sports after the match that he wanted to “encourage and promote” his players' feeling that he was unhappy about conceding “in the right and respectful way”.

After a sticky piece of shape around it Christmas and New Year, Arsenal finally found their way again with consecutive victories in the Premier League.

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Arsenal first defeated Crystal Palace 5-0 after the match winter break before their nervy 2-1 win over Forest.

They tasted defeat to Liverpool in the FA Cup third round in January, but drew against the Reds in the reverse Premier League tie.