Manchester City are back in Premier League action this weekend with a big clash against Arsenal.
With a 100% win record in the league so far with four games played, City drew 0-0 against Inter Milan for their first Champions League match of the campaign in midweek.
On Sunday, Pep Guardiola’s side will be back at the Etihad Stadium again to take on the Gunners, who have been battling to win the league title for the past two seasons.
Looking ahead to this big game at the top of the table, one pundit and former top-flight star has made a claim about how this match could look on the day from one particular side.
Cesc Fabregas makes Mikel Arteta claim ahead of Man City vs Arsenal
Speaking in a recent edition of Planet Premier League, Cesc Fabregas had this to say about Sunday’s game and how Mikel Arteta could set his Arsenal side up to take on City.
He said: “Listen, it’s difficult for me to say what’s on Mikel’s head. I don’t know if they will do what they did last year.
“I don’t know if you guys remember that we were debating here when they just dropped low block and they were trying to get them in the counter. Sometimes they were not even pressing. They were just waiting for City to come and make a mistake.
“It nearly worked out, but we debated here. Is it the right way? Is Arsenal doing the opposite of what they should have done in terms of what they’ve been doing during the whole season, et cetera?
“Listen, they didn’t manage to win the league and people can say, oh, if they went on to win that game, those two points, et cetera, et cetera.
“Mikel is too smart for this. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He has a game plan. Obviously, he always does and the adaptability is important in terms of can he be aggressive? Can he not?
“I think against City, he will not go full on to press. That’s only my opinion. Can they be a little bit more direct? Yes, because they do have two really fast strikers plus [Kai] Havertz who is now in a very good moment.”
Beating Arsenal would be a big boost for City’s title hopes
Back in July, Arteta said the only way Arsenal can take the title away from City is by winning all of their league games, which they have already failed to do this season.
Looking back over the previous meeting at the Etihad between the two sides, which ended with a 0-0 draw, City had 73% possession in total.
This showcases how much the home side dominated the ball and how Arsenal were comfortable with not having possession a lot of the time.
While the Gunners managed to beat Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 last weekend despite only having 36% possession, this highlights how capable they are of getting a positive result whilst not being the dominant side.
Taking all of that on board, it’ll be intriguing to see whether Arteta decides to tell his side to sit back and soak up the pressure from City again or whether he’ll allow them to push out and put pressure on the Blues.
