Arsenal vs Manchester City: 3 key battles that could decide top-of-the-table clash

Arsenal face their toughest and most important fixture yet on Wednesday night: Manchester City.

Pep Guardiola’s side are breathing down the neck of the Gunners and are applying greater pressure with each passing week. This is the match where they can overtake.

Arsenal head into the contest with a disappointing one point from a possible six from their last two matches. The attacking fluidity we have seen in abundance from the league leaders has fallen flat. Teams have set up well defensively to smother the Gunners’ flame, but City are different, they are going to attack.

Arsenal vs Manchester City: 3 key battles that could decide top-of-the-table clash

This means that there are going to be key battles all over the pitch – and off of it too. Here are the three key battles that may decide Wednesday’s top-of-the-table clash.

Battle #1 – Bukayo Saka vs Nathan Ake

If Arsenal are going to get a result against the Premier League champions, there is no doubt that Bukayo Saka will play a huge part. The 21-year-old has been terrorising full-backs with his stellar one-vs-one ability, but Ake provides a challenge that Saka will have to relish.

Saka and Ake went up against it earlier this month in the FA Cup, and it was the Dutchman who came out on top. Ake scored the only goal of the game that knocked Arsenal out of the competition. This time, Saka will need to operate wide to stretch the City defence in order to create room in the middle for his team.

Most recently, teams have been doubling up against Saka to eliminate any attacking output the England international can offer. Saka, who scored first in Arsenal’s 2-1 defeat against Man City last season, will want to isolate Ake one-on-one to enable him to be direct in his attack.

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Battle #2 – William Saliba vs Erling Haaland

Saliba didn’t have his best game against Brentford. Ivan Toney was dominant in the air against the Frenchman, but Arsenal are going to need their young centre-back to be on top of his game to stop Erling Haaland, who has 25 Premier League goals already this season.

Haaland will be Saliba’s toughest test, but it is one he may be able to handle. Against Arsenal in the FA Cup earlier this season, Haaland wasn’t as impactful in the game as he has been so often this season. This is what Mikel Arteta will want.

Arsenal’s need for Haaland to have a quiet game is a must – let’s hope that Saliba (and Gabriel) is up to the test.

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Battle #3 – Mikel Arteta vs Pep Guardiola

It is the former student against his old teacher. Arteta’s time in Manchester has clearly influenced his coaching style now he is at Arsenal, with Guardiola operating as his leading mentor for several years.

The two know each other better like the back of their respective hands. Guardiola has always been full of praise for his former assistant, but this is where all niceties need to go out of the window.

Arteta’s record against his former boss hasn’t been too convincing – he’s yet to beat him in the Premier League – but the Arsenal players will understand the importance of this match and how key it is to get a result.

The City manager has a job on his hands: hunting down Arteta’s Arsenal.