Man City preview: More of the same …

Morning all.

It’s the third of three tricky away games today as we visit Man City. Traditionally a very unhappy hunting ground for us in recent seasons, we came away with a point last time out, and Mikel Arteta will be hoping to go one better this afternoon. In terms of the team, there don’t appear to be any new problems for the manager to contend with, so it’s likely to be something very similar to the one we’ve seen for the last couple of games.

If I had to put money on it, I’d say the same starting XI as the win in the North London derby, but with Declan Rice in for Jorginho. Gabriel Jesus got an hour in midweek, but wasn’t particularly impressive, so I think we’ll see Leandro Trossard come back in. I suppose there is scope to change Gabriel Martinelli if your concerns about his goalscoring form are paramount, but he does a lot of important defensive work and the way City load that right hand side makes me feel like he’s the right option to start with. The other option for the left is probably Raheem Sterling (or Jesus), and that former player against their old club dynamic is an interesting aspect, but I think Arteta will stick with the Brazilian.

Looming large over the whole thing is the absence of Martin Odegaard, a player who can make a difference in a tight game, but whose influence on the team goes well beyond his craft and creativity. Maybe it’s just because of who we’ve played and where, but it’s been interesting to note that Arteta hasn’t tried to replace the captain, he’s picked a team to do the job a bit differently.

Today feels like it will be another one of those games, where our defensive strength and quality will be tested. I expect City to have a lot of the ball, and I expect us to make it very difficult for them when they do. I’m sure in an ideal world Arteta would love us to be front-footed and have a lot of possession, but there are too many missing pieces in a key area of the pitch for us to do that properly. So, pragmatism will rule the roost today. Be strong, defend aggressively, look to make the most of the moments when we win the ball back (perhaps hit them on the break), and maximise set-pieces. To me, at least, that feels like the best chance we have to take all three points – and I don’t think a draw is a disaster by any means either.

Speaking ahead of this one, Arteta said:

We go to the home of the champions, the team that I think in Premier League history has been the most consistent ever, not only in terms of results but in terms of dominance and consistent top performances. This is the challenge, we have to go there and prove that again we’ve made another step and we can compete.

It’s early enough in the season for this game not to feel quite as seismic as it has in the last couple of years, but any chance you have to try and take points off City, you have give it a go, so let’s hope we can do that later on. For more on this game, some of the individual battles ahead, and how the teams might set up, check out our preview podcast on Patreon.

Join us later for live blog coverage, plus you’ll get the match report, goal clips, reaction, player ratings and much more over on Arseblog News.

It’s a Man City double header today, of course, as Arsenal Women play them at the Emirates – 12.30 KO. After defeat in the first leg of the CL qualifier (with the second leg on Thursday), this is a huge game for Jonas Eidevall and his team. The return of Vivianne Miedema is a significant sub-plot too, but let’s hope she has a quiet game today and the Arsenal Women take all three points. You can find all the coverage you need, match report, reaction etc on Arseblog News.

Right, let’s leave it there for now. Come on you reds!