Match Preview: Arsenal v Manchester City – the Airline Derby

It is dubbed as the “Airline Derby” – Emirates vs Etihad. In reality it is a test of two clubs who need to get a result for differing reasons. In any case it likely will be a cracking affair with both teams having a proper go at each other.

For Arsenal, a positive result is needed to show growth over last season when tests against the clubs in front of them were horrid affairs. Liverpool and Chelsea away saw Arsenal ship a combined 11 goals to 1. The 6-3 loss at City last season, differs in that both teams were going back and forth it was just City were able to get more in the end. If you were like me, you likely felt the match could’ve been 10-9 in either squad’s favor.

City need to get a positive result after letting former Manager Mark Hughes’ Stoke put them to the sword 1-0. Losing twice in a row is practically unheard of in this new City era. Losing two in a row this early in the season while not an epic cock, would cause the pundits and naysayers to get all over City as their weekly negative spin target.

Either way, supporters and neutrals alike should enjoy this match. With Wenger and Pellegrini preferring to attack, we won’t be subject the time when Roberto Mancini’s City would come to the Emirates and bore us to death with that Italian mentality of trying not to lose on the road. I know Mancini is revered for getting City those first bits of silverware but I dreaded playing his side, not from any sort of fear factor but always with a sense of forboding relative to the impending snooze fest we would see.

Now though it’s different. Any Arsenal supporter who suspects that City will resemble the squad we played in the Charity (Community – tomatoE/tomahto let’s call the whole thing off) Shield are mistaken. Arsenal wanted that win more out of a desire to create a platform of positivity for the season. No, City didn’t tank it and no, the priorities of the two clubs aren’t different, it’s just that a win was something Arsenal wanted more at that point.

City have a squad to be admired. IF we can get over how it was built there are enough players in that squad to make any supporter envious. For me personally, Aguero and Dzeko are two players I’d kill to have. Simply put they know how to score. They will hurt you. Though for Aguero these days he is hurting himself (with injuries) more than the opposition. Still, thinking he won’t be a menace is foolhardy.

One player who won’t ever receive a warm reception is Samir Nasri. When he left he took on the mantle of the most hated of all players – especially ex-players. Though Robin Van Persie is giving him a run for his money. City fans shouldn’t be fooled that this is some pettiness about their success. No, it has everything to do with his manor and his conduct since leaving.

While some fans will boo the likes of Clichy and Bacary Sagna, for the most part any reception they receive will be warm (or luke warm) simply because they left, they kept their mouths shut and went about their business. For some reason, Samir Nasri is hell bent even to this day trying to explain why he left.

Look, Samir (or Samira as I like to call him) we don’t spend time talking about you. Yes, we boo you, you should really grow a set and get over it. Nasri spends more time talking about us then we do about him. He gets booed simply because we don’t like him. If it gets him off his game, so much the better. Nuff said.

Top to bottom City possess a wealth of talent. Especially in the attack. Their speed and movement can cause Arsenal problems. It will be interesting whether Wenger is tempted to play with his back line to address the speed.

The go-to lineup features Weltmeister Mertesacker and his franco partner Laurent Koscielny. However, in the World Cup, Löw, swapped out Mertesacker against quicker teams. Now look, Mertesacker is a solid defender and no one should think otherwise. His ability makes up for his speed. He is positionally sound, seldom makes a bad tackle, always seems to know the right moment to make a play and reads play better than most. His partnership with Koscielny plays to both’s strengths and has brought out the best in each player.

However, there is a case to be made for swapping him for the young Calum Chambers. Chambers, Arsenal’s August player of the month has impressed at every turn of the dial. Be it Champion’s League or Premier League, he has shown himself to be smart, calm and assured in every situation. This smart kid is the future either at Center-Back or DM. For those asking, I view Hector Bellerin as the successor to Mathieu Debuchy at RB.

But back to Chambers, the lad has been so good on the ball and is quite mobile, you could see the boss making the decision to bring him in. Still, the boss is loyal to his players and in the end as much as we’d like to speculate it’s more than likely that Wenger will chose the Weltmeister over the English lad.

The question is how do either of these teams stop each other?

You’d have to give City the slight edge in the midfield due to the presence of Yaya Toure. More than any player, as Toure goes so does City. He is everything to them. Imposing in the middle, with amazing foot work and solid shooting skills he gives City that “extra something” going forward. It will be interesting if we decide to have someone always near him to disrupt his play. With Fernando or Fernandinho likely to start alongside him, he will stride forward more often. However, he can be rendered ineffective if, Arsenal insure some is always there to disrupt his play – it’s a task easier said than done but one other teams have employed with success before.

So how can Arsenal beat City?        

For all their attacking prowess there are two things that stick out when assessing City.

• They are weak on the counter-attack. Given Arsenal’s addition of Sanchez and Welbeck the City defense will have to be wary not to get too far forward when the light blue side of Manchester have the ball in the Arsenal end. With our passing ability and the speed we now possess, it could be a slick 1 to 2 passes with Arsenal attacking on the break.
• I’ve yet to see City look dominate for a full 90 minutes. The testament of winners is the ability to snatch a win from any performance. City are masters of finding 10 minutes of sublime play to get the points they need. However, as the teams around them at the top improve and get stronger, City will need to find a way to control a match from start to finish or for larger chunks. Clubs like Arsenal, Chelsea, Man United and Liverpool will find ways to score and are likely to score first on some occasions. Some of those teams will know how to see out a match and that could spell trouble. Arsenal need to use their home advantage – no league losses at home since opening day last season – and their strengthened attack (i.e. speed) to get an early goal and keep the match open. They need to take advantage of City’s need to warm up the engine before getting started.

Growing Respect for the Visitors

I found it easier to dislike City when Roberto Mancini was in charge. There was something about his Italian arrogance that really grated on my nerves. That combined with the influx of money that transformed the club over night. But as I look at City now, sure they’ve got financial ability behind them that makes competing in the transfer market difficult but are they really that evil?

If we’re honest City reacted to the market as it was previously established. The likes of Chelsea “bought” the title long before City ever arrived on the scene. Manchester United were always purchasing players at ridiculous amounts and well let’s not forget how those two clubs in Spain print money in their training center basement. The point is, City’s ownership, whether we like it or not, saw what the market was “tolerating” and just reacted to it.

Manuel Pellegrini is an easy manager to like and outside of Samira, there aren’t any players City have that you look at and despise.

What City managed to do was get their core together and build upon it. Something that Arsenal are doing now, albeit with funds built through prudence rather than wild influx. Yes, City can still pay over the odds for players both in fees and salaries. Is it something I hate? No, not really. I know we made our moves to the Emirates and worked under our financial model for so long to get us to the point where we can compete for top signings. We may never pay someone as much as they pay a player. Not for ability to do so (we clearly have the funds now) but from our manager and club’s perspective that players shouldn’t make that much.

So as City have stablized – of sorts – I look across and while they are rivals for top honours – I look at them now and admire a squad that plays well, a club that after initial investment is trying to do it right and has a manager and players that you like – except Nasri, I can never like Nasri

PROBABLE LINEUPS:

Arsenal 4-2-3-1 Manchester City 4-2-2-2

Injuries & Suspensions:
Arsenal: Gnabry (knee), Walcott (fitness) Giroud (ankle)

Manchester City: Fernando (groin) Jovetic (hamstring)

Match Officials:
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (3M, 12Y 0R)
Assistant Referees: Beck, Collin
Fourth Official: Moss

Broadcast Info:
UK: BT Sport 12.45 BST

US: NBC Sports Network 7:45 AM EST

 YAMA Prediction:
Arsenal 2-2 Manchester City

Match Facts (courtesy FourFourTwo)

• Arsenal won 18 of their first 22 Barclays Premier League fixtures against Manchester City, but have only won three of the last 12 (D4 L5).
• The Citizens have only won one of 17 previous Barclays Premier League games away at Arsenal; a 2-0 win in January 2013 (L11 D5).
• Indeed, that 2-0 win was also the only time Manchester City have scored more than once in 17 Premier League games at either Highbury or the Emirates.
• Danny Welbeck could become only the third player in Premier League history to play for both Arsenal and Manchester United (Mikael Silvestre, Robin van Persie).
• The Gunners have won more Premier League games in September than any other Premier League side (48) and also have the best points/game average (2.02).
• Arsene Wenger’s side are unbeaten in 19 Premier League games at the Emirates Stadium (W14 D5) and have won their last four in a row there.
• Arsenal have conceded four goals from only seven shots on target faced in the top-flight this term.
• Manchester City have not lost two consecutive league games since October 2010 – one of the games that they lost back then was against Arsenal.
• Arsenal have already gained a league-high four points from losing positions in 2014/15.
• Sergio Aguero has scored eight goals in his last 10 Premier League away appearances