City will be looking to put the poor display against Newcastle United behind them and get their season back on track. Meanwhile, Arsenal are eyeing a top-four spot as the teams head into the business end of the season.
Unai Emery will have to pull one out of the hat to prevent City’s dominance over Arsenal from reaching new heights. We take a look at some of the key tactics the Gunners boss could employ to help him get the better of Pep Guardiola in this fixture.
Prevent City’s wing domination
Easier said than done? Worth a try. Guardiola’s system is based on stretching the field and creating overloads on the wing. This is usually followed by a cut-back, cross or attacking pockets of space in the half-space.
Preventing City from stretching play by cutting channels and maintaining a compact structure should work in Arsenal’s favour.
The wingers need to take up some of the defensive burden too and track back whenever possible. If shrinking the field out of possession does not work, the Gunners could also consider creating overloads on the wings themselves and win the battle on the flanks courtesy of numerical superiority.
However, priority must be given to preventing City from controlling the wings, rather than finding a solution to it after it happens.
Mystery box containing Denis Suarez
Former Manchester City playmaker Suarez was roped in from Barcelona on a loan deal by the Gunners on deadline day. No-one will expect Emery to field a system with the Galician as the focal point, let alone start the midfielder.
But Emery has worked with the Spaniard at Sevilla and, together, they won the Europa League in 2015. Also, Suarez will have a good reading of Guardiola’s system, having spent a good amount of his career at Barca.
Emery could risk tasking Suarez with battling City’s midfield on his debut. The potential backlash exists, but the surprise element in this plan could bear fruit too. It is a calculated risk and not a blind gamble.
