Arsenal Vs Manchester City: Granit Xhaka’s Quest For Redemption

Granit Xhaka has struggled throughout his first season at Arsenal. Against Manchester City on Sunday, though, he has the perfect chance of redemption.

It has been a terrible run of form for Arsenal in recent weeks. Having played poorly for a good period, very soon their underwhelming performances were matched by their results. A run of just one league win in their last five games has seen the Gunners slump to six points behind their rivals and now face an almighty task to haul their way back into the top four positions.

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That almighty task begins on Sunday when they welcome Manchester City to the Emirates, a side currently three positions and seven points ahead of their hosts. Pep Guardiola’s team, though, have, in a very similar manner to that of Arsene Wenger’s, failed to replicate the early season form that served them so well in the past.

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This is a must-win game for Wenger and his players. And if they are to do so, then they must win the all-important battle of the midfield. City’s strength lies in their plethora of attacking midfielders, creative on the ball, relentless in their movement off of it, capable of dominating play entirely.

Arsenal must stifle their free-flowing attacks throughout the 90 minutes, giving them little time and space on the ball, hustling and bustling their opponents, while also maintaining their defensive structure with the threat of two or three combination passes unpicking even the slightest error in positioning.

The man who will have to shoulder much of that responsibility is Granit Xhaka. The role of the defensive midfielder, the shield in front of the back four to protect them from exposure, especially on the counter attack, is only increasing in its importance with the evolution of the game: the greater speed at which it is played, the emergence of the fully-fledged number 10 – of which City boast many – and the intricacy with which top players can pass the ball in even the tightest of spaces.

Xhaka was signed to be exactly this type of player. And he was signed to be a good one at that. £35 million was his price tag and he is yet to live up to it. His primary issue is his over-eagerness to win the ball. As a result, he is rash in the challenge, which in turn leads to disciplinary struggles, and can be caught out of position, harming the organisation and the shape of the side.

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Against City, against the likes of David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne, make those mistakes and you get punished. Xhaka has a chance to begin to redeem what has been an underwhelming first season in England. He must take it, as, without it, Arsenal could be in a whole heap of trouble.