Arsenal: 4 requirements needed to beat Manchester City

3. Be Combative in Midfield With Partey & Xhaka

Another pivotal one. They all are, in fairness.

City’s midfield of Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva, along with Jack Grealish and Phil Foden, is incredible…..and Rodri, and Gundogan and….well, you catch the drift.

It will be up to Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka and Martin Odegaard to at least try and break even in the middle of the park. That central triangle has been looking stronger by the week.

In their 5-0 loss, City walked around the Arsenal midfield, thanks largely in part to Xhaka’s red card. However, the big teams have routinely done that to Arsenal even with eleven players so the onus will be on the home side to not be bullied, but also not to overstep the mark, Granit.

Granted, City does this to just about every team in the league so there is no shame in it, but for a club the size of Arsenal, wrestling some level of control that area of the pitch is how these games can be won. Against Liverpool, Arsenal were competitive for the majority of the first half before a lapse in concentration let Sadio Mane in for the opening goal. In the second half, Liverpool dominated once the second goal went in.

Particularly at home, Arsenal can’t afford to be pushed around in midfield early on. It sets the tone from the off. This is a chance to put a marker down and prove that the team is making strides and with this being Partey’s final outing before AFCON, all involved should be up for the fight.

Continued on next page…