Manchester City got back to winning ways as they comfortably beat a Watford side 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium and notched their 5th win in the last 15 matches. Pep Guardiola showed his ruthless side as he dropped John Stones, Fernando and Iheanacho from the starting line-up. City came up horribly short in their match against Leicester City and the level of performance was nowhere close to what Pep will be expecting from his players.
Watford were coming off a 3-2 win over Everton and it was expected that they will be offering a stiff resistance when they came over to the Etihad. City haven’t been the best at home and draws against Everton, Middlesbrough, Southampton and a 1-3 loss against Chelsea illustrated that. The Sky Blues have been dominating games but their inability to kill off games saw them drop all these invaluable points.
They went in with Nolito in a false 9 role which highlighted their squad depth and the versatile nature of the available players. With Gabriel Jesus coming in, things are looking well taken care of when it comes to the attacking department.
But they will be facing Arsenal up next and there is a high amount of scepticism whether City, with the likes of Kolarov and Otamendi are equipped to stem the attacking riches of Wenger’s men. Guess we will be finding it out on Sunday.
PREDICTED MANCHESTER CITY XI VS ARSENAL (4-1-4-1)
DEFENCE
Claudio Bravo will be in goal and while he literally had nothing to do against the Hornets, it is expected he will be properly employed in his role! Pablo Zabaleta is on the back of an excellent performance against Watford and his confidence will be high. But there will be fitness and recovery issues which might see Bacary Sagna start at right-back.
John Stones might make a comeback and will most likely partner Otamendi. Aleks Kolarov will be at left-back in that case.
MIDFIELD
Fernando is likely to come into the side after his replacement Gundogan, picked up, what looked like a serious injury. With Fernandinho and Gundogan missing, Pep might opt for Yaya Toure in midfield once again as he will have Fernando providing cover. Alongside Yaya, Silva is likely to line up in the advanced No.8 position.
ATTACK
Kevin De Bruyne will be on the left-wing while Raheem Sterling is likely to be on the right. Nolito did a good job in the false 9 position and might be deployed in a similar role.
