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‘There should be a little bit of heat sometimes’
Read Jonathan Liew on Omar Marmoush
Now defences have to deal with the threat of Haaland dropping deep and Marmoush running in behind, or Marmoush staying wide and Haaland running in behind, or both running in behind, or both tucking in and Phil Foden running in behind, or some other combination of mayhem that exists only in Guardiola’s head. In essence City are becoming a primarily direct team with a short-passing game as their backup, whereas until recently it was the other way around.
Pep Guardiola on the 2-2 draw with Arsenal in September
The game was emotional for Erling and it’s not easy when you have 90 minutes and you know Gabriel and the central defenders push him and hug him and hug him and kiss him, and these kinds of things. He had to react. Arsenal are a physical team – in a good way in many aspects – and at the end what happened through the emotions happened. So it’s done.
Whose bright idea was it to schedule a football match at the business end of the transfer window?
“I am following the buildup with you from Cancun, and hoping the hotel bar has Max so I can watch most of the match,” writes my colleague Philip Cornwall. “But the coach to the airport picks us up about 15 minutes before the final whistle. The question is, will you and the MBM be worth paying five pounds to EE for, or do I wait for the airport to see how it finished?”
I’ll take the temperature of the game after 70 minutes and let you know. If it’s as hot as the return game it’ll worth every all 300 pennies.
Arsenal and City met earlier today in the WSL. Another seven-goal thriller please lads!
Team news
David Raya has recovered and will be in net for Arsenal – but Ederson is unfit to Stefen Ortega starts in goal for Manchester City. Omar Marmoush is preferred to Kevin De Bruyne.
Raya’s return means Arsenal make a single change from last weekend’s win at Wolves, with the fit-again Martin Odegaard in for Ethan Nwaneri. Pep Guardiola makes three changes to the City team that beat Chelsea 3-1 eight days ago: Ortega for Ederson, John Stones for Abdukodir Khusanov and Savinho for Ilkay Gundogan.
Arsenal (possible 4-3-3) Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Martinelli, Havertz, Trossard.
Substitutes: Calafiori, Jorginho, Kiwior, Merino, Neto, Nwaneri, Sterling, Tierney, Zinchenko.
Manchester City (possible 4-3-3) Ortega; Nunes, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol; Foden, Kovacic, Bernardo Silva; Savinho, Haaland, Marmoush,
Substitutes: Carson, De Bruyne, Grealish, Gundogan, Khusanov, Lewis, McAtee, O’Reilly, Vitor Reis.
Referee Peter Bankes.
Preamble
When Arsenal and Manchester City slugged it out at the Etihad in September, it was clear the return fixture had the potential to be a title decider. But few of us expected a third party to be involved. Liverpool lead the Premier League by nine points with 15 games remaining and are tantalisingly close to their 20th league championship. For Arsenal, it’s simple: if they don’t win this afternoon, slim will leave town and their title hopes will be over for another year.
They may already be over, such is Liverpool’s relentless excellence. But Arsenal v City has become an event in itself. I can’t be the only person getting I’ll See You Out There’ vibes about this match. That famous game, played 20 years ago yesterday, was also between Arsenal and Manchester’s finest; it was the return fixture after a spiteful, controversial game in Manchester; and both teams had been blindsided by a rival with a new manager who were romping away with the title.
City are desperate to play in the Champions League next season and need every point they can get. But this is about more than points. Even if this was a mid-table game with nothing riding on it, they would be desperate to beat each other.
Kick off 4.30pm.
