Manchester City vs Arsenal Last Minute Preview

It's time for revenge. It's time to show who is better. Its gonna be a clash of football principles today, in terms of financial approach and tactical approach. It's stingy Scrooge vs the spendthrift Sheikhs. It's beautiful football vs physical football. Though both sides played out a dull 0-0 draw the last time they met, an exciting game beckons tonight.

And I;m really excited and up for it. With good reason too. El Capitan is back and with him, our line up looks strong. Wilshere will be missed but I'm sure Denilson will be up to the task. Diaby is a surprise absentee, he's not even in the bench. Rest of the line up is as expected, with Sagna returning.


Manchester City(4-3-3): Hart, Richards, Boyata, Kompany, Boateng, De Jong, Toure, Barry, Milner, Silva, Tevez

Substitutes:  Given, Bridge, Adebayor, Adam Johnson, Lescott, Vieira, Balotelli


Manager: Roberto Mancini

==========================================================================

Formation view:

==========================================================================

                                                       Hart

Richards                    Kompany                               Boyata                   Boateng

              De Jong                            Yaya Toure                             Barry

    Milner                                      Tevez                                  Silva
==========================================================================



Arsenal (4-2-3-1) Fabianski, Sagna, Djourou, Squillaci, Clichy, Song, Denilson, Fabregas, Nasri, Arshavin, Chamakh

Substitutes: Szczesny, Koscielny, Rosicky, Gibbs,  Eboue, Walcott, Bendtner

Manager: Arsene Wenger

==========================================================================

Formation view:

==========================================================================

                                                             Fabiansky

Sagna                       Djourou                                       Squillaci                   Clichy

                                          Song                      Denilson

     Nasri                                       Fabregas                                        Arshavin

                                                         Chamakh

==========================================================================



Tactics:

Goalkeeping: Hope Flappy is up to the task today. City players have good height and they may pose a threat from corners and free kicks. Flappy should also be wary of long shots from Tevez and Toure.

Defence: A big task for Djourou and Squillaci to mark the ever energetic Tevez. City really rely on him for goals and if we can keep him quiet, the job will be half done. Sagna and Clichy should also check the runs of Silva and Milner.

Midfield: It will get physical out in the middle. Hope we can stay away from nasty challenges. Apart from that, passing needs to be precise(which will hopefully be, as Cesc and Denilson can do that very well).

Attack: I say this almost every time but we need to make use of Chamakh's aerial ability more. Hope Arshavin fires on all cylinders today and Nasri keeps up his good work. For this, introducing Rosicky(who has been our best crosser so far) will be key.

Subs: Ideally, I'd bring on Rosicky, Walcott and Gibbs/Eboue.

Final Prediction:

A tight 1-1 draw.(Have a feeling it can also be a 0-1 or a 1-2 win for us Gunners!)