Arsenal travel up to Manchester to take on Man City today, with our club hoping to cement our place within the top-four for next season.
We have a three and four point advantage over City and Man United in the fourth and fifth positions, and with only two matches remaining, we will need two points to secure our place in the Champions League places, and a win today would confirm that.
City come into the match distracted, and will do well to pick themselves up after a disappointing week. The Citizens come into the match having lost two matches within the last seven days, having lost 4-2 to Southampton last Sunday, before being eliminated from the Champions League in midweek.
Arsenal are hardly in top form either, but we remain unbeaten in the last seven matches since losing to Barcelona in mid-march, and our record at the Etihad in recent seasons has been decent. We have two wins and a draw from our last five trips up there, and won by two goals to nil there last season also.
Today we will need to come out strong and fast, with our opponents likely to be jaded from the CL exploits, and we should try to hit them before they can get into their stride. Having lost Ozil to a minor knock today, Wenger has had to tinker with the side a little today, and has chosen both Welbeck and Giroud to start.
Confirmed team:
Cech
Bellerin Gabriel Koscielny Monreal
Ramsey Elneny
Iwobi Sanchez Welbeck
Giroud
Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Chambers, Wilshere, Cazorla, Campbell, Walcott
I know many will complain about the inclusion of Giroud, but maybe he has been impressing in training and his selection is warranted. Campbell should have gone in his place personally, but we will have to see. I still don’t think we will lose, although Ozil is of course a huge loss.