Manchester City Vs. Arsenal: 5 Things the Gunners Must Do to Win
In less than 24 hours, the Gunners will face the Citizens, a team that has troubled Arsenal in the past couple of years. Ever since the Arab investors bought the club, to be precise.
Arsenal have accumulated four points in the last four meetings in the league against Manchester City, and also lost in the League Cup last year (although Arsenal fielded the youngsters in that encounter). The Gunners are looking to close the gap between them and Chelsea, the current league leaders. In the process, they hope equal Manchester City's 17 points, and cut the gap between them.
We examine the five most important things the Arsenal team must do to emerge victorious from this difficult encounter.
Continue The Fine Display Witnessed in Europe
1 of 5
The game against Shakhtar was a tremendous example of what the red and white army are all about, they played with brilliance and dominated possession throughout the game.
Arsenal scored five great goals against a team that is not only the best in his country at the moment, but also experienced in Europe. While The other top sides in Europe were scoring with difficulty, Arsenal were on fire, they turned up the heat and there was no looking back.
Arsenal must carry on this form that they've displayed in Europe, while Shakhtar isn't as strong as Man City or Chelsea, Arsenal were able to dominate possession against Chelsea and were the better team, but failed to capitalize on the many chances they created, and the end result was a more experienced (and somewhat lucky) Chelsea team teaching Arsenal a lesson in how to take advantage of any chances created.
Should Arsenal win against the current league runner-up, they need to display their attacking football and dominate possession, should they be able to suffocate Man City's team, they will force their own style of play rather than letting the Citizens impose themselves.
Consistency
2 of 5
The Gunners biggest problem in past years, not being able to go the distance, one day they are brilliant, the other they fall short and stumble, inconsistency and injuries have been major contributors in why the Arsenal have been trophyless for the past half decade.
Now, Arsenal have a chance to get things back on track, and to do so they need to find that winning mentality team like Chelsea and Real Madrid have at the moment.
Arsenal have many players coming back from injury, Fabregas, Bendtner and Walcott will prove to be major additions to the Arsenal squad, and until RVP and Ramsey come back from their injuries to make the Arsenal squad whole again, they need to keep winning and collect as many points as possible, this means they need to focus for the whole 90, Arsenal tend to lose points in the last 10 minutes in many games, the match against Sunderland was a fine example of that.
Physicality
3 of 5
The man in the picture needs no introduction, especially if you're an Arsenal fan.
Ironically, Drogba might be more famous amongst Arsenal fans than among fans of Chelsea, this is due to the fact that the Ivorian striker scored 13 goals in 13 games against Arsenal.
Despite not having much technical ability or vision, Drogba has scored against Arsenal many times, some were lucky, some were brilliant, but his physicality and sublime finishing ability made him score 13 goals in as many games, Drogba has galled the Arsenal defense time and time again.
Drogba was bullied in the game against Man City by the likes of De Jong, and he wasn't able to score throughout the 90, but against Arsenal he was a beast.
This is mainly due to the Gunners' style of play, and against Manchester City, Arsenal will face yet another physical side that fields the likes of Tevez, De Jong and Kompany so it's safe to say that Arsenal will have to add some steel and aggressiveness against a team that has been able to defeat them and Chelsea with relative ease in the past couple of seasons.
It's hard to imagine Koscielny or Djourou containing Tevez, so it's safe to say that Squillaci will have a tough match ahead of him, while the Arsenal offensive team will have to cope with De Jong and Kompany's physical nature should they want to win the game.
Key Players
4 of 5
The key players for Arsenal will be major contributors to the final outcome of the game. Arsenal has a bucketload of talent in offense. Rosicky, Fabregas, Nasri and Arshavin to name a few, Arsenal look like a completely different beast when viewed from the front, they have players that can change the outcome of the game entirely, an on-form Arshavin would do Arsenal a world of good.
However, it's the key players in defense that will have an important saying in the matter of who wins tomorrow, and Arsenal's defense has been inconsistent in past games. This is the area where Manchester City will target as the main weakness in Arsenal's squad.
Along with the centre backs, both full backs tend to attack more than defend (assuming Eboue starts the game alongside Clichy), Manchester City will use counter attack throughout the game, and it's safe to say that Arsenal will have their own counter attacking to do.
Resilience
5 of 5
If there's one word Arsene Wenger says time and again: Resilience.
And not just because it's a catchy word, but because that word usually defines the best players in the business. To be able to come back in the game after being dealt a blow both mentally and physically proves just how good a team really is.
Arsenal have been able to make some impressive comebacks in recent memory, the games against Barcelona at the Emirates and the game against Birmingham are proof of that, and they will have to be resilient and resolute against Manchester City should things not go their way at the beginning of the game and throughout.
The only thing that matters from this match is not the performance, but the three points, only then will Arsenal truly get back in the hunt for the title race.
