Manchester City have a big test ahead of them in the Premier League as they take on Arsenal on Sunday.
Following their midweek Champions League match against Inter Milan, which ended with a 0-0 draw, Pep Guardiola’s side are back in action at the Etihad Stadium again for another top-flight meeting with the Gunners.
Ahead of this big game, one pundit, who knows what it takes to win a league title, has shared his thoughts on how this showdown could pan out.
Alan Shearer previews Man City vs Arsenal
In a recent article for Metro where he previewed and predicted the scores for all of this weekend’s Premier League fixtures, Alan Shearer said this about City’s clash with the Gunners.
He said: “All eyes will be on the Etihad Stadium come Sunday when the top two go head-to-head.
“Injuries to Kevin De Bruyne and Martin Odegaard mean neither side will be at full strength, but Arsenal, particularly, cannot afford a defeat given they are already trailing the champions by two points.
“If you offered Arsenal the option to go to the Etihad and get a point like they did last year, they’d snap your hands off. They don’t need to go there and win.
“Arsenal are great at defending and I do believe they’ve got the best back four in the Premier League as a unit, with their organisation and with the protection that they get from in-front too.
“In William Saliba, you have a very good defender, there’s no doubt about that and Saliba v [Erling] Haaland is one of the battles that I’m really looking forward to watching.
“You’ve got one of, if not the best centre-forward in the world and you’ve got one of, if not the best centre-half in the world, so it’ll be a fantastic, intriguing battle. The winner on Sunday could come from the battle Haaland has with those two centre-backs.
“I am going for a draw in this one. It’s a long week with both teams having played in the Champions League as well, so a draw for both teams isn’t a bad result, even though Man City are at home.”
City will want to extend the gap with Arsenal
As things stand, City are two points ahead of Arsenal as a result of the Gunners drawing 1-1 at home to Brighton & Hove Albion.
Even though City have scored more goals (11) than Mikel Arteta’s outfit (6), the north London club have conceded just one goal across their four games compared to the three City have let in.
While Shearer thinks Arsenal would be willing to take a draw, City will feel that opening up a five-point gap against a team that could likely challenge them for the title again will be something they’ll want to do.
