Premier League action resumes after the international break with a blockbuster clash. Arsenal will hope to repeat their 3-0 triumph in the Community Shield when they welcome Manchester City on Saturday.
This will be Arsenal’s toughest Premier League game of the season so far and Arsene Wenger’s side will be hoping to signal their title-challenging credentials with a big win.
They have had an underwhelming Premier League run that has seen them win only their opening game against Crystal Palace. The Gunners then went on to struggle to get draws from their next two games, coming back from a two-goal deficit against Everton to salvage a point, then following that with a 1-1 draw against Leicester City.
The defending champions will be desperate to win this game as they suffered a shock defeat against Stoke City in their last outing. They failed to create meaningful chances against a hardworking Potters side that rarely made defensive errors. That loss dented a perfect start to City’s title defence, which had started with comprehensive wins against Newcastle and Liverpool.
With Chelsea looking to extend their perfect start to the season, the Citizens will be wary of the consequences of any further slip ups. Two straight losses would be a huge psychological blow to Manuel Pellegrini’s side as it would open up a big gap for Jose Mourinho’s side and, possibly, Liverpool.
City draw confidence from their number of big-game players and the way they convincingly defeated another title rival when they met Liverpool.
Arsenal team news
- Aaron Ramsey is a doubt with an ankle problem picked up on international duty and could be sidelined for this one.
- Kieran Gibbs, Mesut Ozil and Mikel Arteta should all be included in Arsenal’s squad.
- Serge Gnabry (knee), Olivier Giroud (ankle) and Theo Walcott (knee) are all out through injury.
- Deadline day arrival Danny Welbeck is set to lead the Gunners’ attack.
Manchester City team news
- Fernandinho may come in for Fernando, who limped off in the first half of the surprise 1-0 home defeat to Stoke before the international break.
- Stevan Jovetic and Pablo Zabaleta are both doubts for the trip to the Emirates.
- Bacary Sagna may make his first appearance against Arsenal since leaving them for City over the summer.
Prediction
Unlike most managers, Wenger rarely makes special tactical changes in big games so Arsenal will almost certainly keep their 4-1-4-1 formation, but with Arteta returning to the starting XI as the holding midfielder.
Both sides have technically gifted players and they both prefer to patiently work with the ball in attack, so ball possession should be quite even.
Since Samir Nasri and David Silva both like to tuck in from the flanks, Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere will have important defensive jobs in dropping alongside Arteta and protecting the back-four.
Arsenal will definitely be a threat on the break with the pace of Alexis Sanchez from the flank and Welbeck through the middle. Manchester City will therefore need to be better in dealing with quick transitional play than they were in their home game against Stoke City.
Manuel Pellegrini will probably start with the quicker Gael Clichy at left-back in place of Aleksandar Kolarov to deal with the pace and movement of Sanchez.
