Arsenal have lost control of their Premier League title challenge at a very crucial moment and now if they lose to Manchester City then their dream castle will be in complete ruins.
The Gunners have drawn their previous three league matches and right now, they are just five points ahead of City while playing two games more than the Etihad outfit. The two sides take on each other in midweek and this one’s an absolute must-win for Arteta and his men.
Man City are now in the driver’s seat in terms of the title race and had it been a few weeks ago, we could have said that Arsenal are the favourites but after three consecutive setbacks, this prediction is very hard to make.
Arsenal haven’t kept a clean sheet in their last six matches plus they haven’t been able to beat Pep Guardiola’s side in their previous five meetings. The last time these two sides met was back in February and the North London side ended up losing that home game 3-1.
The odds are heavily stacked against Arsenal so they will have to throw the kitchen sink at Manchester City. A win will keep their title hopes alive but anything other than three points and Guardiola’s men are going to bulldoze through.
Arsenal’s team news and injuries:
In terms of injuries, William Saliba is going to be the biggest miss for the Gunners because he’s taking way too long to recover from his lower back injury.
Mikel Arteta has claimed that there’s still an outside chance Saliba is going to be fit for midweek but the manager did not sound too optimistic.
“The picture hasn’t changed from last week. Regarding William, we still have to wait a little bit more,” Arteta had told the press before the Saints game.
“He is not progressing as quick as we hoped. It’s a bit delicate and we want to be very certain when we push him that he is ready to absorb the load and the risk that we will take and at the moment that’s not possible to do.
“I don’t know, it’s a bit early to do [predictions]. Probably next week we are going to have more certainty. There is some evolution, he is doing more activity, but he is not there yet to start to throw him on the pitch at the level that the sessions demand to compete in this league.”
Saliba’s absence is a major blow and if he is still ruled out then Rob Holding is going to hold onto his place in the first XI.
Xhaka missed the Saints game due to a fever but he will be fit to face Manchester City which means Vieira will move back to the bench.
Gabriel Jesus had a really underwhelming game on Friday and it will be interesting to see if Mikel Arteta hands him a start against City or not. The Arsenal manager has Trossard who can play through the middle so this one is going to be a key call.
Jesus made a great start to his life at the Emirates but since he’s returned from injury, the centre-forward has been very average.
Arsenal predicted line up vs Manchester City:
Predicted Starting Line up(4-3-3): Ramsdale: Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Ben White; Granit Xhaka, Partey, Odegaard; Martinelli, Bukayo Saka, Jesus/Trossard.
