If there’s one thing we are sure of, it is that Manchester City will face us without their dependable holding midfielder, Rodri, who is suspended. This will no doubt affect them, as, for one, they’ll have to come up with a plan to fill Rodri’s void.
Rodri is Rodri, and I doubt Mateo Kovacic, who’s not that physically strong, or even Kalvin Philips, who’s not that technically gifted, will have what it takes to offer what Rodri would give.
That said, Mikel Arteta should, for this game, go against his norm. The Spaniard is one of the finest coaches there is, and so he clearly has a style he wants his team to play. However, for the game versus City, he may need to change from his default playing style and come up with a game plan to exploit Man City’s weakness in the centre.
Man City’s midfield won’t be at its best, and we ought to take advantage of that. Arteta needs to start Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, and Martin Odegaard. In this setup, Rice will be the player on whom we base our tactical approach. With his athleticism and tenacity, his job will be to put pressure on, frighten, and close down whoever is given the responsibility to fill in for Rodri to get him making errors.
As Rice does that, Partey looks to protect the defence, which allows our forwards to press high, and Odegaard looks to pile pressure on Man City’s defence, capitalising on errors they make from our high press.
Such a tactical move could be bad news for Guardiola and his boys. It could see us win the midfield battle, and if we do that, we may have the foundation for forcing a win in that game.
Is this the way to beat Man City today?
Darren N
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