Arsenal vs Manchester City
A wounded Arsenal side entertain a rampant Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday in an epic Premier League tie. Chelsea destroyed the celebrations for Arsene Wenger’s 1000th match in charge of Arsenal with a devastating 6-0 win at Stamford Bridge last weekend, the Blues’ biggest-ever victory over their North London rivals.
The Gunners lacked their usual pace and punch, which led to unforgiving problems and it didn’t help the fact that they don’t ever seem to have a tactical game plan against the big sides. The defeat proved that Arsenal do not have the same steel as Chelsea and Manchester City when it comes to battling the ugly way to get good results.
Unfortunately for them you cannot win every Premier League game playing free flowing football and their lack of adaptability in pressure games has been their undoing. Things have hit rock bottom for Wenger and his beloved Arsenal and it certainly doesn’t help playing against Manuel Pellegrini’s ruthless Manchester City who dismantled them 6-3 in the reverse fixture.
However, a win for Arsenal will give them a glimmer of hope in the title race. Both teams operate with similar systems and both Wenger and Pellegrini feel their team’s greatest chances of success are when they have three attacking midfielders in-and-around a lone striker. Arsenal’s attacks will mostly come from the in-form Tomas Rosicky who has taken responsibility of being the creative spark for the Gunners since returning from injury.
The Gunners also have Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski who have impressed on numerous occasions. Arsenal will be looking to achieve the best possible outcome but this will be difficult considering their injury problems in midfield. They will be without Mesut Ozil, Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Theo Walcott, Abou Diaby and most probably Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, leaving Wenger extremely short with options.
Pellegrini couldn’t have asked for a better performance from his star studded side as City scored five without reply against a Fulham side dangerously close to being relegated. This was as comfortable a win as you’re likely to get in what is an ultracompetitive Premier League.
An important week awaits The Citizens as they continue their quest for the Premier League title with three games in seven days. A midweek fixture against rivals Manchester United (yet to be played at the time of writing) followed by a trip to the Emirates. Yaya Toure, who captained City in the absence of the suspended Vincent Kompany, scored three goals, capping off a superb all-round performance.
His hat-trick took his tally to 16 goals in the league this season and 20 in all competitions – a remarkable return for a central midfielder. The big Ivorian has also managed 46 tackles and has made a total of 19 interceptions. He will no doubt pose City’s greatest threat and will cause Arsenal all sorts of problems. James Milner could likely retain his place in Pellegrini’s starting eleven against Arsenal.
The Englishman might not have the refinement of David Silva or Samir Nasri, but he guarantees you tempo going forward. He was a constant thorn in Fulham’s side and was unlucky not to score. His style of play makes him the perfect Premier League player. Centre-back Matija Nastasic is available after recovering a knee injury and is in contention to start the game.
Sergio Aguero will be touch and go for this title six pointer. The Manchester City striker has been struggling with a hamstring problem since coming off at half-time against Barcelona a few weeks ago. The Citizens are capable of demolishing any opponent on their day but have lacked consistency on the road this season and will know they will have to give their all at the Emirates.
Manchester City are coming off an impressive 5-0 win over Fulham while Arsenal are looking to bounce back following their 6-0 thumping at the hands of Chelsea. Arsenal’s long list of injuries makes the task of beating The Citizens even more difficult despite playing at home and you feel it’s gone from bad to worse for Arsene Wenger. Back the Sky Blues to oust The Gunners at 27/20.
