Manchester City vs Arsenal Preview

Hello readers hope you are all well.
Tomorrow we take on City in what looks like a mouth watering clash on paper, but I think it could be a tactical game on City's part, I'll explain as I go through the blog.

Over the years going to Eastlands was looked at as a routine win. Up until four years ago they were an average side, grateful to retain their status in the Premier League at the end of every season. Then in 2007, former Thailand prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra took over the club, pumping millions into it's transfer budget. It was the beginning of a new era for the club where they finally looked to break the what seemed at the time "unbreakable" top four. They made some decent signings at the time but none to suggest a title challenge, despite the arrival of Robinho they still had too many average players to challenge for the title, the top four seemed a realistic target and they couldn't even accomplish that in Shinawatra's reign as owner.

Then in September 2008, the football world was stunned when Abu Dhabi United Group Investment and Development Limited completed a takeover which costed them £200m. These guys put billionaires to shame, it would prove a major turning point in the future of Manchester City. It was obvious now that they meant business and the rest of the Premier League took note. Ever since that day we have seen the likes of Carlos Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor, James Milner, Jerome Boateng, Aleksander Kolarov, David Silva and many more top class players head north to join the Blues revolution.

People make a good point when they label City as "failures" because despite spending millions upon millions over teh last couple of seasons, they still cannot break into the top four. Last season they were pipped to 4th spot by Spurs. This season however, they have invested big time and it looks to be paying off as they have only lost once so far this season, that of course being an away game. Beating them at Eastlands will take some doing this season but it's not impossible. Like every team they have their flaws, and we are more than capable of exposing them.

First of all I know our recent record at Eastlands is not pleasant on the eye but that will only wetten the players appetite to get a result tomorow. Now back to City's flaws. Now, the best time to play a Manchester City side is at the beginning of the season because more than likely at that time they are trying to gel five or six new players into the side. We saw them struggle big time in the very first game of the season away to Spurs, somehow escaping with a 0-0 draw, all the new signings failing to make an impact. Luckily for them, only one of the new signings started on defence and he went off at half-time. Speaking of defence, that's my next department of the City side comes under question. Mancini has roatated it so often this season they don't even have a strongest back four mainly due to players coming in and out with injuries. Jerome Boateng and Micah Richards are battling it out for the right-back position, Kolarov, Bridge and Lescott for the left-back spot while Kompany and Toure have formed a solid partnership at the heart of the defence but still, injuries to them dosen't help and hopefully it will work to our advantage tomorrow. I understand Toure and Kolarov are both doubtful so we'll wait and see.

Now for my predicted line-ups, I'll start with ourselves:

Fabianski

Sagna - Squillaci - Djourou - Clichy

Fabregas - Song - Diaby

Nasri - Chamakh - Arshavin

As for my predicted City team:

Hart

Boateng - Kompany - Toure - Bridge

Toure - De Jong - Barry

Johnson - Tevez - Milner

There are plenty of ifs and buts in those predicted teams so I'll analyse them.

First of all, we know Fabianski will start as Almunia has failed to recover from his injury. Wenger confirmed that Barcary Sagna returned to training in his press conference so I'd expect him to win his place back tomorrow. Koscielny and Vermaelen remain sidelined so it looks like Squillaci and Djourou wil partner each other for the third game in a row. There is a question mark over whether or not Clichy will be dropped for Gibbs. Gael's performances haven't been horrendous but his positiong has been called into question over the last couple of months and I honestly worry for him tomorrow. You have to be on your game coming up against Adam Johnson, he has burned so many full-backs this season it's been frightening. I'm glad Wenger has to decide and not me. Moving onto the midfield. Song has a massive task tomorrow to cover the defence and that is why I think Wenger will give Diaby the nod. He tracks back more than Rosicky so I'm fully expecting him to start, his responsibility will also be to cover the defence, more or less a box to box midfielder. Cesc got a run out Tuesday to get the sharpness back and I'm praying that he is on his game tomorrow. We badly need him to perform to the best of his abilities, the difference now against Chelsea is that we can finally get the proper service given to Chamakh. On either flank I'm expecting to see Nasri and Arshavin. Wenger talked about Andrey's stats yesterday and how he creates more chances than any other player in the league. It's good to read on paper but we still need him to put in a bigger effort, espeically tomorrow because you can guarantee Boateng will try and bomb forward whenever the opportunity arises. Then you have Chamakh, who has impressed so much up to now, if given the right service tomorrow, there is no doubt he will do damage. Theo Walcott and Nicky Bendtner will probably start on the bench, if things aren't going as planned we have two major threats right there.

Now to quickly analyse the possible City team. I suspect Mancini will approach this game with caution as he always does against the top sides. He knows we pose the threat of ripping teams apart on the counter attack which is why I'm predicting he will go with three holding midfielders in the centre of the park. Toure and Barry are slightly more attack minded than De Jong but rest assure Mancini will make sure they aren't caught out. The wings is what worries me the most, the thought of Milner and Johnson running at our full-backs almost makes you literally shit your pants. Sagna and Clichy will have to be on their toes for the 90 minutes aswell as getting proper cover from Nasri and Arshavin which is hard to see but we'll remain optimistic hehe. I suspect Tevez will start up front on his own but then again you have an on formish Adebayor on the bench who is raging to have a go at Arsenal. That's where the headache arises for their manager. I'd love nothing more than to see him abused for 90 minutes but I'm more focused on getting out of there with a positive result.

So it's obvious what is required for the game tomorrow. 100% effort from everyone, tracking back and keeping the ball well and perhaps a slice of luck espeically in this sort of game where City will try to keep it as tight as possible. You can read my thoughts as the game happens my following me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/ArsenesArmy or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Arsenal-News/128634437183981
Heres to three valuable points and a long hard party tomorrow night, till next time Gooners!