Arsenal will be without five first-team players for their top-four clash with Manchester City.
The Gunners have been in top form of late, winning five matches on the bounce in all competitions, but today’s task will be much tougher to overcome.
Manchester City are the best team in the division so far, running over a number of teams, including us in our opening month of the term (when we had a number of absences due to Coronavirus and injury). They seem to be at their peak currently also, winning all seven of their PL fixtures in December, scoring 18 goals in their last four matches combined.
The Citizens are closing in on a third consecutive PL title with an eight-point gap over their nearest rivals, while we sit 15 points behind them in fourth.
We go into today’s game without our manager also, with Mikel Arteta forced to watch from home after he tested positive for Coronavirus. The team will also be without five players for the matchup as confirmed by Football.London, including further Covid-sufferers Takehiro Tomiyasu, Cedric Soares and Calum Chambers. Sead Kolasinac is also out with injury, while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was allowed to leave early to join up with Gabon ahead of the AFCON.
Predicted XI:
Ramsdale
Maitland-Niles White Gabriel Tierney
Martinelli Partey Xhaka Saka
Odegaard
Lacazette
Apart from our right-back option, this is the team that has been in top form and full of confidence in beating a number of teams.
We will no doubt have to be at our best to overcome City, but we have saved much of our best form for the Emirates, and they certainly shouldn’t underestimate us either.
I’d love to believe we are going to win today, but the fact remains that we are coming up against the best team in England at present, possibly even the best team in Europe, but we are definitely amongst the most in-form teams also.
Patrick