Match Preview: Manchester City vs Arsenal
There will be two games on Wednesday as the premier league returns from its hiatus. Aston Villa welcome Sheffield United to Villa Park while the biggest game will be the game between Manchester City and Arsenal at the Ettihad in what can be described as a game between a master and his student. It will be the first meeting between Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta since the latter left his role as assistant manager to take over as manager at his beloved Arsenal, he hopes to rescue them from the shambles of a season that they have had till date.
What is at stake for both teams? It’s quite simple really, Guardiola and his boys need to consolidate their second position on the table by winning this game; if that’s not enough motivation, making Liverpool wait till matchday 31 to lift the premier league trophy has to be enough. A loss for City is not only bad in the sense that they’ll be losing to a team that has failed to beat them at home since 2015, it will also mean that Liverpool get to lift the trophy with a win on matchday 30; their first game back since the break. Arsenal travel to Manchester hoping to pick all three points needed to keep them in the race for a top six finish, failure to win does not entirely rule them out of the running but it certainly makes their jobs more difficult.
HEAD-TO–HEAD
Manchester City head into this fixture boasting of six wins (two draws, two losses) in their last ten league meetings with Arsenal. Interestingly, Arsenal have not picked up a win in the league against Man City since Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud earned Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal a 2-1 win when they faced Manuel Pellegrini’s City at the Emirates stadium in 2015. Arsenal last league win at the Ettihad also came in the same year, a 2-0 win; since then, they’ve gone on a run of one draw and three defeats, conceding ten goals in the process.
FORM
The form of both teams heading into this match might not be of much relevance as the game has all the feelings of a preseason game. The players are returning from a three-month break and might need some time to get back into matchday rythym. Fitness could also be a big concern for both sides but nonetheless, the players are expected to give one hundred percent.
Man city come into the game on the back of three wins and two losses in their last five games in the league, both losses came against Tottenham and more recently, Manchester United; two teams whose situations are similar to the gunners. Their home form has been almost perfect, four wins and a draw in their last five games although three of those wins came against teams in the bottom half of the table.
Arsenal have been somewhat unstable under Mikel Arteta this season, three wins in their last three games in the league have papered over some of the cracks in the team but their problems run quite deep. Forty six percent of Arsenal’s league games this season have ended in draws; the team has the third worst attack and second worst defence among teams in the top ten and has picked up a meagre five points from the last five away games in the league – all draws. To give it a bit of context, Arsenal have picked up fourteen points from a possible thirty nine points away from home this season.
Pep Guardiola is expected to have a full squad after Aymeric Laporte and Leroy Sane were confirmed fit to take part in the match. Arsenal on the other hand still have injury worries, Callum Chambers and January signing, Cedric Soares are ruled out of the match while it will be touch and go for their diminutive Uruguayan midfielder, Lucas Torreira. Kieran Tierney is expected to be available for the gunners though.
PROBABLE LINEUPS
Manchester City – Ederson; Walker, Laporte, Otamendi, Zinchenko; Rodri, De Bruyne, Gundogan; Sterling, Aguero, Mahrez (4-3-3)
Arsenal – Leno; Bellerin, David Luiz, Mustafi, Tierney; Xhaka, Ceballos; Pepe, Ozil, Aubameyang; Lacazette (4-2-3-1)
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