Manchester City vs Arsenal Preview, Predicted line up and score by KJ
I don’t particularly fear a game against Manchester City. Although they are a better team than us, there is never an inevitability like there is against the likes of Chelsea and Man Utd. There’s always the chance that we’ll come up on top against them and I’m hoping we’ll be able to do that at the Etihad.
But this game is going to be tough and we’ll need to put in a massive performance if we are to get a positive result. With Arteta and Debuchy injured for 3 months and Ramsey still coming back from injury, the team is going to be weaker than expected.
The battle in central midfield is going to be important and we’ll most likely start the game without our three best central midfielders. We need to stop the likes of Fernandinho and Silva in midfield if we are to get any result. We need to prevent them getting service to the feet of Aguero and Dzeko.
Predicted line up:
Ospina
Chambers – Mertesacker – Koscielny – Monreal
Flamini – Coquelin
Alexis – Rosicky – Cazorla
Giroud
I expect Wenger to stick with Ospina for this game.
Chambers will most likely be the one to replace the injured Debuchy. He will have his work cut out with Clichy and Silva working on the left.
I expect Flamini to be brought back in over Ramsey mainly because I expect Wenger is being as cautious as possible with Ramsey as well as tactically opting for a more defensive approach.
I expect us to stick with Rosicky and Cazorla in midfield as Rosicky will press Fernando whilst Cazorla will try and pick out Alexis and Giroud on the counter.
Finally, Giroud will need to hold up play better than his last trip to the Etihad if we are to get goals in this game.
I’m feeling optimistic but also will be realistic with my score. 2-2.
Kash