Despite all the talk this week about the Arsenal and Chile star Alexis Sanchez and whether he is the best player in the Premier League this season so far, the former Liverpool and England defender Jamie Carragher has suggested that it is the Man City and Spain midfield maestro David Silva that is the key figure in the clash between the Gunners and Man City at the Etihad stadium tomorrow.
The TV pundit has declared that, if Arsenal cannot find a way of stopping Silva from controlling the game and finding space to create chances, then we are likely to come away with nothing from the game. I am not really so sure about this, although I do agree that Silva is a very dangerous player.
I think it would be a mistake to focus too much on the little Spaniard, because then we would be leaving too much space for the likes of Nasri, Fernandinho, Lampard or Navas and they all have the ability to really hurt us. In fact, if I was to pick out one City player to focus on, it would have to be their deadly striker Sergio Aguero. Luckily for us, Yaya Toure is away at the African Cup of Nations and perhaps Aguero is not fully up to speed yet after his injury lay-off.
What Arsenal really need to do, in my opinion, is to start well and not give any of the home team much time or space. We also need to make sure that our own attacking players get into the game from the off, because the old adage that attack is the best form of defence really could be true at Man City. Silva, Aguero and all cannot hurt us too much if the ball is in their half of the pitch, but can we control the game with our fluent passing style?