Arsenal will travel to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to take on Manchester City in what will be, arguably, the Premier League weekend’s biggest matchup. The Gunners will do so, possibly, without a key defender, however.
The North London club dug deep to get the three points in their last Premier League match against Sheffield United, and they will absolutely have to be at the top of their game when they take on Pep Guardiola’s men on the opposite side of the international break.
Manchester City starting XI prediction: go here
One big story to watch will be the potential involvement of Thomas Partey, the Gunners’ big deadline day signing. He could be in line to make his debut, and manager Mikel Arteta said that the club will see how he does in training this week in order to evaluate. (For our Arsenal starting XI prediction go here)
The one big aforementioned absence could be that of Kieran Tierney, who returned from international duty after testing positive for the Coronavirus. The manager remained hopeful of the Scot being available on Saturday, saying that discussions are ongoing with the authorities regarding the defender’s situation.
If the left back is unable to make it in time for the weekend game, it will be a big blow for the North Londoners. Tierney is one player who is capable of playing in multiple positions, offering them the chance to setup in different formations.
The manager will have to come up with a solution to make up for this potential absence. One bit of good news for him is the arrival of Partey who adds heaps of quality to the midfield. A potential combination of him, Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos is surely a mouth-watering prospect. The Gunners have done well against City recently with the FA Cup semi-final triumph being the best example of this trend.
If they can replicate that performance, there is a good chance they can bring the three points back to London.
Arsenal do have a real challenge on their hands though, given the exceptional quality that Manchester City possess. Not having Kieran Tierney will be a problem, but Arteta will be thinking of ways to counter this. If the Gunners can get going on the counterattack, it will cause City real problems given the pace that is on offer with Nicolas Pepe and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. It certainly does promises to be an interesting tactical battle between Pep and his former assistant.