File image of Erling Haaland.© AFP
Manchester City and Arsenal have been going toe-to-toe for the Premier League title for the past two seasons. With the Men in Blue prevailing both times, Mikel Arteta’s Gunners will be travelling to Etihad Stadium on Sunday with the ultimate trophy in their mind. Manchester City were unable to beat Arsenal in the previous season with the latter winning 1-0 at home and managing to hold on to a 0-0 draw in their second game of the season. With the Gunners having only conceded one goal in five games so far their defence looks to be as solid as ever.
Former Manchester City forward Shaun Wright Phillips believes that the club’s ability to create individual moments of magic is what will help them prevail over Arsenal this time around.
“If you look at the way City play, they always play tactically. You have your individual moments but when you have players like Jeremy Doku, Savinho, Jack Grealish, Phil Foden, Kevin De Bruyne, who is not playing, and Gundogan, they can make moments of magic. It does not have to be a one-two or an interchange, it can also be a shot from outside the box,” Shaun Wright-Phillips, who is in India for the Manchester City Trophy Tour, told IANS in the Star Sports Press Room.
For Arsenal, the game against Manchester City is going to be a difficult one with their skipper Martin Odegaard being ruled out with an ankle injury. Arsenal only scored one goal through a corner in their matchup against Tottenham and were held goalless in the Champions League fixture against Atalanta. Their usual free and fluid attacking gameplay is left rather static with Odegaard’s departure. City on the other hand faced Italian champions Inter Milan in their UCL match and were also held to a goalless draw at home. They conjured 22 shots in the game with five on target but did not manage to get past Yann Sommer in the net.
The Manchester City legend believes his former team holds the upper hand over its opponents as the game will boil down to a midfield battle and Arsenal are not the same team without their skipper.
“They dealt with a similar situation against Inter Milan and they will be prepared, I think they will be able to deal with the Arsenal counterattack as well as they do not want to be the same team in the final third without Odegaard. This is a game of such a high magnitude, you do not get enough opportunities to miss chances so the chances City do manage to make, they will have to take them,” he added.
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