Arsenal vs Manchester City: Per Mertesacker holds the key

Arsenal’s impending match-up against Manchester City has some massive stakes, but if Per Mertesacker can utilize his key, then watch out.

Arsenal can change the entire outlook of the Premier League if they can take any sort of points from Manchester City. No one is giving them a shot in hell, and that heavily plays in the Gunners favor, as the same happened against Chelsea in the FA Cup Final.

Both matches have one big (literally) factor in common – Per Mertesacker. Not to mention the stakes, which Mertesacker also has a massive beat on – again, look at Chelsea.

Mertesacker is always going to be highly questionable, especially in these latter stages of his career. He isn’t getting any quicker or more agile. If anything, he’s gotten slower, but I wouldn’t go that far.

Still, Mertesacker is the key to this Manchester City match, and my reasoning might sound crazy, but hear me out.

City draw most of their strength from an overbearing attack. You just can’t seem to cope with them. So much speed and quickness and understanding. Some are even writing off the Gunners hopes of coping with the attack and saying that the only way Arsenal stays in the match is to open up the match and play just as loose.

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I don’t think it’s quite that simple to write off. Yes, Arsenal will obviously have to match City in the attack. They will have to be a fluid, goal-pelting machine. Because if not, then we certainly have no hope.

But Mertesacker can bring something to the match that I don’t think we’re expecting to have – control. We saw it against Chelsea. He was able to shut down a damn strong attack and he did it with minimal resources. It was all about positioning and coordination and they managed it to perfection.

This City attack is better than that Chelsea attack. But even if we can hold City to two goals, then you’re putting yourself in a situation to grab some points. Because the City defense can still be penetrated and I wouldn’t put it past Arsenal to score two of their own. From there, all you have to do is snag one more on the fly and suddenly, the power struggle of the Premier League begins anew.

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It’s going to be a tough fight, no doubt, but all we need Mertesacker and this defense to do is keep it reasonable long enough for the Gunners to get an attacking foothold.

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