Manchester City vs. Arsenal: Issues, Decisions Set to Shape Premier League Game
Arsene Wenger's men will arrive at the Etihad Stadium with the knowledge they have not beaten City in the Premier League since the spring of 2012. Arsenal can brag about the Community Shield, though.
Arsenal are making headway toward winning another of Wenger's coveted fourth-place trophies. They currently sit fifth in the league table, just a point behind Manchester United in fourth.
Meanwhile, City have not lost in all competitions since Nov. 5, but they have drawn two of their last three league matches. The most recent draw with Everton, which saw City snatch failure from the jaws of success by conceding late from a set piece, put City behind Chelsea in the table.
As usual, both clubs have plenty to play for. The last time they met, the points were shared. Will there be a winner this time?
Here are the issues and decisions set to shape City's clash with Arsenal at the Etihad.
Mikel Arteta's Injury Has Transitioned from Temporary to Something More
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is often criticized for over-emphasizing his midfield. But maybe, just maybe, Wenger has a reason for stocking that position so deeply.
Midfielder Mikel Arteta's efforts to return to the pitch without surgery did not work out.
"Arteta will be sidelined for around three months after ankle surgery, the club have announced," noted a recent report in The Guardian. "Arteta has not played since 26 November, when he damaged a calf in the 2-0 Champions League home win over Borussia Dortmund."
Arteta's absence does not change much for the Gunners in the near term, as Arsenal have been playing without him for several weeks now. But it does bring into sharp focus Arsenal's need to replace what Arteta brings from the surplus of midfield options Wenger always has at his disposal.
And it sort of explains why Wenger always seems to overbuy at that position.
Mathieu Debuchy's Injury News Is Similarly Unwelcome for Arsenal
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Mathieu Debuchy's tumble after a questionable challenge by Stoke City's Marko Arnautovic looked bad when it happened, and it turned out to be even worse than feared at the time.
“Mathieu had a surgery on his right shoulder following the injury on Sunday,” said Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger per a report in The Guardian. "I count three months out for Mathieu because contact will be a problem for the shoulder.”
Arsenal's back line is always an adventure, with Per Mertesacker perhaps the only reliable option Wenger has in front of the Arsenal goal.
As noted by Jack De Menezes in The Independent, "[Debuchy's] absence has left the Gunners desperately short at the back—not to mention forcing Calum Chambers into playing nearly every match due to his versatility and Arsenal’s lack of depth."
Who Will Be in Goal for the Gunners?
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Wojciech Szczesny has been Arsenal's No. 1 in goal for some time, but as of writing, his status at the club is as ephemeral as smoke in the wind.
Following Arsenal's recent win over Stoke City a "prominent talking point was Wenger’s decision to drop Wojciech Szczesny after the goalkeeper’s nightmare performance in the previous league game, the 2-0 defeat at Southampton," wrote David Hytner in The Guardian.
"Szczesny was furious, particularly as it is understood that he had arrived for the game expecting to start, and Wenger was weirdly evasive when he was asked to explain the decision," Hytner continued.
Szczesny probably did not endear himself to his old-school manager by getting himself fined by the club for smoking in Arsenal's changing room after the Southampton loss.
It remains to be seen whether David Ospina's appearance in the Arsenal goal against Stoke was a one-off or the new order at the Emirates.
Manchester City Have a Big Signing Done and a Huge One in Mind
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Wilfried Bony is a Manchester City player, even though City fans will not see him for a while, as the striker is with the Ivory Coast team at the Africa Cup of Nations.
"Manchester City have announced the arrival of Wilfried Bony on a four-and-a-half year deal from Swansea," wrote Tom Sheen in The Independent. "The 26-year-old striker moves from the Welsh club for an undisclosed fee, reported to be up to £28 million when add-ons are included."
Bony's signing is a coup for City, who needed a striker after the failures of Alvaro Negredo and Stevan Jovetic to provide adequate cover for Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko became manifest.
But the recent shocker at City is Manuel Pellegrini's recent indication that City might go in for Barcelona living legend Lionel Messi if Messi continues to make noise about leaving Catalonia.
"Pellegrini confirmed that it’s natural for a club like City to be mentioned in the same sentence as Messi," wrote Jack De Menezes in The Independent. "Messi’s future has been the talk of the January transfer window after fuelling speculation that he could leave Barcelona at the end of the season, revealing that he doesn’t know where he will be playing next season."
Messi in sky blue? Stranger things have happened.
Two of the Premier League's Elite Strikers Will Feature
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"Manuel Pellegrini revealed who he believes is the best player in English football...and surprisingly it wasn't his Manchester City star striker Sergio Aguero," Jack Briden recently reported in the Daily Mail.
Pellegrini is quoted as saying the following about Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez to AS (h/t Briden): "Every game I see him making a great effort, showing great commitment, ambition and the maturity needed to keep improving year after year I'm happy for him because at this time he is the best player in English football."
Presumably, Pellegrini issued those comments knowing that his own star player, Aguero, is not the type to get petulant or distracted by such stray words.
Both Aguero and Sanchez are chasing Chelsea's Diego Costa for the Premier League's goalscoring lead. In a related story, Chelsea are leading the league too.
David Lynch's recent piece in the Manchester Evening News concluded that Aguero is the better finisher, Sanchez is the better playmaker and both of them are adequate defensively.
Both players are capable of winning a match more or less alone, and they are the two to watch on Sunday.
