Tuesday, March 19, 2024

The 3rd Place Trophy! Manchester City vs. Arsenal: In-Depth Preview

Following the celebrations of a Leicester side who have etched their name firmly into Premier League history, it almost seems the Gunners have nothing to play for. 

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But despite the chances of winning a league title passing by them for the 12th time in a row, Arsenal now have a chance to do what looked impossible for the majority of the season.

Victory over Manchester City not only confirms Champions League football for yet another season, but puts pressure on the likes of Tottenham if they are to slip up against Southampton.

The Gunners need just two points from their remaining games in order to confirm they’ll be playing European football once again, but a win will assure them of no qualification games.

That means that although it may be slightly bleak one, this season ending could still throw up some surprises, and 50% of North London would love to be celebrating St. Totteringham Day.

Team News

Arsenal

The big blow for the Gunners is that in his final stages of a return to first team training, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has suffered a serious setback and will miss Euro 2016 altogether.

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Per Mertesacker will also miss the final chunk of the Gunners campaign following that hamstring injury that was picked up during the 1-0 victory over Norwich last weekend.

Other than that, it’s a case of picking the right starting XI for this kind of game, with everyone fit and available for selection in the midfield certain players are no longer sitting comfortable.

Danny Welbeck is expected to come in for the out of form Olivier Giroud, who has now failed to score since the 3-3 draw with Liverpool at the beginning of January.

Manchester City

Manuel Pellegrini announced that he’ll be without four of his top names on Sunday afternoon, including captain Vincent Kompany who is set to miss the Euro’s for Belgium.

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The centre back picked up a serious knock as the Manchester side were stripped of a place in the Champions League final following that 1-0 loss to Real Madrid.

Also sitting out on the sidelines are fellow defensive players Pablo Zabaleta and Aleksandar Kolarov, meaning there will definitely be a place for former Gunner Bacary Sagna.

Completing the absentees is central playmaker David Silva, his trickery will be missed for a City side who look to set up very defensively in order to use pace with Sergio Aguero up top.

One’s To Watch

Arsenal – Danny Welbeck

If Wenger fails to hand the England international his place back in the starting XI, then the questions are surely going to keep on coming well into the 2016/17 campaign.

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As you can see from the above team news, Olivier Giroud has now failed to score since early January, a statistic that almost confirms Welbeck’s inclusion in the lone striker role.

Not only did Welbeck score last week, but his work rate and tireless energy won us the game in an Emirates Stadium that the worst atmosphere I’ve seen all season.

With three of City’s starting defenders missing this one, you have to get a player like Welbeck on to cut in and out and cause problems, everything has become too predictable with Giroud.

Manchester City – Fernandinho 

Arguably the silent assassin when it comes to City’s gameplay, and whether or not you’ve seen what he can do the 31-year-old will be vital to cutting out Arsenal’s attack.

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In a starting XI that is missing David Silva, the manager will have to put his faith in Yaya Toure to pull some strings so Fernandinho will have to sit back and be everywhere on the pitch.

His goals to game ratio isn’t what we need to worry about, but the fact he could be looking at his final days in a blue shirt could ensure he pulls out a top level performance.

Keep your eye on him because he’ll cover a lot of yards this weekend much like the ability of Mohamed Elneny, rarely putting a foot wrong.

Likely Line-Ups

Arsenal (4-2-3-1)

If Arsene Wenger wants to walk away from this game with three points then he must look at how we played in this fixture last year, beating City 2-0 in what was a highlight of our season.

A defensively minded holding midfield will give our attackers the ability to push on and have the freedom to move around, Francis Coquelin has been dropped recently.

With him coming back into the side, you’ve got so many other options for our midfield but Iwobi looks comfortable with the pressures of big games like this.

Cech, Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny (C), Monreal, Elneny, Coquelin, Alexis, Ozil, Iwobi, Welbeck

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Manchester City (4-2-3-1)

Things have moved around a bit at the back but it’s still a very strong line-up defensively for the home side, with two former Gunners featuring in the back four.

Moving forward and the form of Yaya Toure has looked a bit dodgy recently with rumours that he’s on his way out of the club possibly effecting his performance out on the pitch.

There’s a contest in the attacking ranks for City’s Player of the Year, with a fearsome duo of de Bruyne and Aguero looking to do some damage in Petr Cech’s net.

Pellegrini has some good attacking pedigree on his bench with talented youngster Kelechi Iheanacho always likely to spring up from the sidelines with a goal up his sleeve.

Hart (C), Sagna, Otamendi, Mangala, Clichy, Fernandinho, Toure, De Bruyne, Nasri, Sterling, Aguero

Prediction: Manchester City 2 – 2 Arsenal

With Manchester United piling on the pressure by continuing to pick up victories, there’s more at stake than ever, with both teams trying to fend off their local rivals.

Regardless of the fact a point will do both of these sides some good, it’s the third place that they both need so there will be mistakes made as we watch what will be a lively Sunday afternoon.

City have looked shaky recently and their 4-2 loss to Southampton last weekend just shows how they’ve taken their attention away from Premier League football in the closing stages.

However, United’s victory over Norwich leaves them breathing down their necks so they’ll put everything into the game to ensure they don’t lose it.

Emotions will be running high around the Etihad with it being Pellegrini’s final game in charge for the side he’s brought into the limelight of European football.

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