Arsenal v Manchester City: the preview (well what else would it be?) « Untold Arsenal: Arsenal News. Supporting the Lord Wenger in all he does
Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal
Untold Arsenal on Facebook here
By Phil Gregory
Birmingham away was a great win against a side who’ve caused us trouble over the last few years, and most of the Premier League various difficulties in taking three points since their latest promotion. The stats were certainly interesting reading, our three nil beating of them being only their second home defeat in thirty home games, or something like that. Manchester United having suffered a last-gasp draw against them didn’t hurt, either.
That’s all in the past now, and it’s an in-form City side that come to the Emirates. Slightly benefiting by the postponements affecting the teams around them, City have climbed near to the summit of the table and announced themselves as title contenders. In a taxi back home for part of my journey from the Wigan game, I ended up chatting about football with the taxi driver, who was a big City fan. A nice bloke, but he did fit the “massives” stereotype. He told me about their grandiose plans to expand the stadium, to which I commented they haven’t been having sell-outs just yet, and indeed don’t even own their own ground. He did mention the side would go from strength to strength as they gelled as a team, which is a fair point, but he didn’t really believe that the, shall we say, disparate personalities within their squad would cause issues. Lo and behold, since writing that sentence, Toure and Adebayor had to be separated by six people during training. Great scenes.
As of today, they’ve announced that a fee has been agreed with Steve McClaren’s Edin Dzeko. Given their lack of a wage structure, I can’t see there being too many issues in regards to personal terms, so that transfer is surely pretty much tied up now.
Balotelli and Silva are too big absentees for City for this game. While the former was unlikely to start if Tevez was available, the latter has been City’s Player of the Month for October and November and has certainly made himself an integral part of the City team. After an iffy New Years Day performance you might question whether Tevez will start for them, but just a glance at his goalscoring record suggests it is a mistake to leave the Argentine on the bench. Looking at their recent line-ups and injuries, I’m expecting the following team from City:
Hart
Boateng Kompany Lescott Kolarov
De Jong Barry
Toure
Johnson Tevez Milner
For the Arsenal, we’ve got Almunia and Diaby out, while Gibbs is back in full training. Given the lack of space on the bench he’s unlikely to be involved on Wednesday night but he offers an option for rotation in the coming weeks.
Fabianski
Sagna Djourou Koscielny Clichy
Song Wilshere
Cesc
Theo Van Persie Nasri
Fabianksi continues in goal, while a back four that, in the general opinion, is probably our first choice returns after Djourou was rested against Wigan. Song and Wilshere return to shield the back four, with an increasingly influential Cesc Fabregas pulling the strings in midfield.
A slight change in the first-choice eleven sees Nasri playing on the left in recent times, with Walcott replacing him on the right. Van Persie continues up front, leaving Arshavin benched
We’ll likely see the same sort of system as we saw against Chelsea, which would be tactically spot on. Looking in particular at that City midfield, it’s built primarily around solidity and whilst players such as Barry and Toure are not incompetent with the ball at their feet, heavy pressing may force them into losing possession.
Moreover, heavy pressing will block off that long, forward pass as an option and so we won’t be worrying about Tevez getting in behind the back four as much. Such an option will force them to go wide, and will result in the both Milner and Johnson getting the ball to feet. I’d back both Clichy and Sagna to be able to deal with whatever tricks the City pair can throw at them.
In fact, in terms of their forward line, bar Tevez I’m not particularly convinced by them. Both Milner and Johnson are good players but when labels such as world class are applied to them, it is simply a case of the English hype machine, in my eyes at least. If Johnson or Milner were Spanish, they’ve be concerned good Premier League players as opposed to world class, potential saviours of the English national side.
Set pieces could be a concern. Besides the obvious big players amongst their centrebacks, Boateng is not small, while all their midfielders are potent in the air. Djourou is a certain starter if Wenger doesn’t think it represents a fitness gamble.
We’re getting into the part of the season where three points is more important than ever. A draw wouldn’t necessarily be a bad result but can we afford (psychologically) to potentially slip seven points behind United at this stage? I think not. A win is a must, and you generally expect to win at home against a side who you beat 3-0 away. City will be eager to put that result behind them, but I can’t see them getting much joy at the Emirates.
2-1 to the Arsenal for me. It certainly won’t be an easy game, but with the concerns around City’s team spirit the most important thing for me is to take a lead and make them get frustrated. City have scored a lot of early goals recently, so we need to be switched on from the off avoid giving them a lead to defend.
An index that is so untold you won’t be able to tell anything from it