Manchester City’s clash with Arsenal will be the clash of two similar philosophies. Both Guardiola and Wenger believe in playing beautiful football at any cost, where most managers in the Premier League are happy to come out with three points.
The game could well be end to end considering the talent both teams possess. Arsenal are unbeaten in last six games against City and the last six league games between the two have produced a whopping 24 goals.
Team News
Manchester City- City will be highly understaffed for the Arsenal game. The last-minute brawl with Chelsea had already left them without star striker Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho for this game and to their misfortune, another important player, Ilkay Gundogan, was ruled out with an injury in the midweek clash against Watford. Good news for City fans would be that Fabian Delph is back in training and might be available for selection this game.
Arsenal- The North Londoners will have more or less the same squad that played in the disappointing defeat against Everton. They’ll still miss Shkodran Mustafi, who is out until early January and Gabriel will continue to take his place. Danny Welbeck should be back in training next week and Aaron Ramsey will be available for selection next week. Olivier Giroud will contest for a starting spot against City.
Predicted Line-ups
Manchester City- Bravo; Zabaleta, Stones, Otamendi, Kolarov; Fernando; Sterling, Toure, Silva, De Bruyne; Iheanacho
Arsenal- Cech; Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Xhaka, Coquelin; Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ozil, Walcott; Sanchez
Key Players
Manchester City- David Silva will, of course, be the main player to pull the strings from deep midfield. The Spaniard has been instrumental in churning out goals for City on many occasions. The other and the most important player for City will be De Bruyne. The Belgian has been unstoppable at times. He is deft in both scoring and creating goals and can play anywhere in the attacking third. He could do real damage to Arsenal who have been shaky at the back without Mustafi.
Arsenal- Alexis Sanchez will be Arsenal’s main weapon up front. The top scorer in the Premier League has been phenomenal for the team when playing away from home. He grabbed a hat-trick in London Stadium against West Ham United and opened the scoring at Goodison Park. Mesut Ozil could be another key player for the Gunners. Although the German looked off the pace and shaky against Everton in the midweek, there’s no denying his class as a number 10.
Betting Odds
Manchester City @ 2.15
Draw @ 3.60
Arsenal@ 3.50
