The Premier League 2019-20 season resumes this week and on Wednesday, Arsenal travel to the Etihad in order to take on Manchester City.
The Gunners are currently ninth of the league table but if they can manage to pick up all three points in midweek, they will only again be back in the hunt for a top-four finish.
And since this game will be played in front of an empty stadium some people feel, Arsenal can cause an upset primarily because they will not be playing in a hostile environment.
Talking about this point, Ian Wright has warned the North London side that empty stands might work in their favour but Man City have the firepower to cause serious damage, under any circumstances.
Wright said, as quoted by Metro: ‘Maybe, but at the same time, we’re talking about a Manchester City team that have top players in all positions.
‘When players are playing in an atmosphere where you don’t feel the intense pressure of having to appease the fans, they relax even more.
‘Arsenal have to go there and really put them under pressure. They have to let Man City know that even though there’s no fans they are really going to make this difficult for them.
‘If you sit off teams and switch off against players like De Bruyne and Aguero, you’re going to get punished.
‘You have to ignore the lack of atmosphere and deal with the players for what they are and how good they are and what they are capable of doing.’
Apart from the crowd, one other thing that will make a major impact on the outcome of this match is that which team overcomes their rustiness more quickly once the game gets underway.
Players have been in hibernation for a couple of months now and they have hardly had any competitive game time during this period.
So clearly a match of this calibre is not what these teams would have wanted right after such a prolonged break but we feel it’s Man City who will be under a bit more pressure than Arsenal since if Pep Guardiola’s side fail to pick up all three points then Liverpool will have the chance to be crowned champions against Everton next weekend.
