Walcott could damage a depleted Manchester City

Written by Jon Shay on 17 December 2016. Posted in 1886 Previews

match preview man city arsenal premier league 2016

Match Preview: Manchester City vs. Arsenal - Premier League - 18.12.16

At first blush, it would seem strange to think that the antidote to losing at Goodison Park would be a trip to the Etihad. A second glance should remind us that we've actually played the part of the unwelcome guest in recent visits--and City's woes should only fuel the imagination. They will be without several key players, but even with them available, the Pep Guardiola experiment has not lived up to the preseason expectations. As such, these are three points that, while far from low-lying fruit, are still ripe for the taking.

In addition to the suspensions to Fernandinho and Agüero, news is that Ilkay Gündogan has suffered a season-ending knee injury. While Agüero is frequently the highlight-generator, it's the absences of Fernandinho and Gündogan that may carve out a rather-large opening in their midfield and allow our own midfield greater freedom to explore and probe a City backline that is shakier than a title-challenger's should be. If it turns out that Kompany is also unavailable, that backline gets even leakier.

Despite purchasing one of the world's deepest and most talented squads, Guardiola has not yet found the magic touch. Heck—after Agüero, no one in the squad has scored more than four goals (alhough they have found goals from ten players in total). I'm not suggesting that Guardiola's reptuation is somewhat inflated, but his struggles to elevate City do add a touch of tarnish. It'll be up to us add a few more blemishes or dents.

This is not to say that we're waltzing in overconfident. This City squad is still more than capable of exploding on opponents, and we'd do well to keep tabs on Nolito, De Bruyne, and Silva. Rumours of Iheanacho pulling off a Rashford are, in the opinion of this correspondent, are greatly exaggerated.

To return to where we started, the loss against Everton might offer a bit of a silver lining. It was arguably our worst performance of the season, and not just for the result. We looked jaded and indifferent—not just tired, as might be suggested by the fixture congestion. We looked like we couldn't really be bothered to fight against a squad struggling to stay relevant. To get knocked back by them should test our squad's mettle, and this squad of ours has shown itself more than willing to fight rather than fold.

The last time we lost, we rattled off a 21-match undefeated streak. If we can refind the form that helped us blitz overmatched squads like Basel and West Ham or the grit that helped us draw with PSG and Man U, we should be in fine shape going in.

I believe it will be Walcott who leads the way; his goal against Stoke should relieve a bit of pressure from going quiet after a strong start to the season. He's enjoyed some favour against Man City in the past, even stretching further back beyond our recent successes against them.

LAST THREE Meetings

Man City 2-2 Arsenal (08.05.2016)
Arsenal 2-1 Man City (21.12.2015)
Man City 0-2 Arsenal (18.01.2015)

FACTFILE

The two clubs first clashed on 1 August 1893, a 4-1 win to Manchester City.
Arsenal have scored at least two goals in each of our last six matches against City.
Arsenal are undefeated in our last seven matches against City.