MAN CITY PREVIEW
Quick match preview from me today because I am struggling with some food poisoning out here…
Arsenal vs City is huge for many reasons, the main one being that if Arsenal lose today, that puts us 6 points behind Liverpool 5 games in, which is less than ideal.
We need to make up for lost points. A point or above is good because whatever City look like now, you’d imagine they’ll work out new squad kinks by the end of the season and have some questions to ask of the Premier League trophy.
City do look sick though, it’s hard to ignore it at the moment. Pep mentioned in the prematch presser that, to simplify, his team lacked maturity, and they aren’t the machine that is needed to walk a Premier League season. He also had questions about whether Rodri, at 29 years old, could hack three games a week so soon into a return from a very serious injury.
I’m also not sure things are great behind the scenes there… City just don’t feel very City of late.
Arsenal, on the other hand, have been pretty solid without pushing into spectacular territory. We have the deepest squad we’ve ever witnessed in history, we’ve seen some good performances from individuals, but we’re yet to see WOW.
That said, we’ve not exactly been gifted an easy start this season, especially in comparison to Liverpool, who get all the luck, all the time.
Last season, it was best attack against best defence. Now I’m not sure where we are, because Arsenal could have a pretty good chance at having the best attack this season if things click. Our ‘impactors’ are stepping up, our striker puts the ball in the back of the net, and we look more dangerous entering the final third.
The starting 11 is going to be nice and unpredictable for Arsenal. Odegaard, Saka, and Saliba are all threatening returns. Martinelli made a case to get a start against a team that will be open to transitions. There is legitimate competition in every area, so this really could be a fun afternoon.
The job on the City side is to stop Haaland at all costs, and to stop Rodri imposing himself on the game. No easy feat.
Still, if you want to win titles, these are the games where you have to make it count. We cannot be 6 points adrift this early. Liverpool have ridiculous momentum again and we all saw how hard that was to catch last season.
Home fans need to show up loud today and make the home advantage count… fingers crossed it all goes well.
Ok, short post, see you in the comments, and after the game for the ON THE WHISTLE podcast. x