Whenever Arsenal and Manchester City lock horns, goals are expected to follow! That’s because the attacking quality of either sides is versatile and an established one in the English Premier League.
Whenever Arsenal and Manchester City lock horns, goals are expected to follow!
That’s because the attacking quality of either sides is versatile and an established one in the English Premier League. Both the teams will lock horns at the Emirates stadium on Saturday as they seek to start afresh after making a stumbling start to their Premier League campaigns.
It’s been a month since the Gunners from London demolished their Saturday’s opponents 3-0 in the Community Shield at Wembley but since then, Arsenal have just won a single game and drawn two and in course, also lost their French striker Olivier Giroud to injury.
In a bid to ease their forwards, Arsenal snapped up former Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck on the final day of the transfer window for 16 million pounds. The arrival of Welbeck eases manager Arsene Wenger’s woes of shortage of goals upfront. Welbeck was the star in midweek as the English international scored 2 goals for his country in a Euro qualifier game against Switzerland.
“I’ve envisaged myself playing in this team before. For it to finally happen is very exciting,” said Welbeck. At Arsenal, we’re not short of combination football and I like to join in on that and get in behind defenders and try to get shots off at goal. I want to score some goals and help the team to achieve the right results,” said the former Red Devil forward upon his arrival at the Emirates.
There’s a doubt on Welsh midfielder Aaron Ramsey as well who limped out of the Euro game against Andorra in midweek. Much of the attacking thrust will be relying on the shoulders of Chilean attacker, Alexis Sanchez. The likes of Mesut Ozil, Santi Cazorla, Jack Wilshere and Oxlade-Chamberlain can also prove deadly upfront.
On the City front, the strikers were blamed for City’s inconsistent start as they lost the last League game at home to Stoke City. Manager Manuel Pellegrini later went onto say that his team lacked a creative spark in the surprise 1-0 home defeat by Stoke City.
But none the less, Manchester City still remains one of the strongest sides going forward. Their forward line shores up some of the biggest names in world football. The likes Stevan Jovetic, who scored two goals against Liverpool, Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko could give sleepless 90 minutes to the Arsenal defence. The midfield packs a powerful punch with the presence of Ivorian Yaya Toure and Fernandinho making spaces for the attackers.
However, manager Pellegrini will be on a shortage of midfielders after his new summer signing, Fernando picked up an injury in the last game. City will be looking to galvanise their season as they look forward to a blockbuster week that sees a dual with Chelsea to come next week and after that, a trip to Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
Both the teams know that a loss is inconsequential and only a win could push the spirits of the players as well as the fans.
Even though the Manchester City squad look favourites for the tie, a draw looks a likely result for either team.
