The title match is here! Haaland’s health, Arteta’s risk and the hole on the left side of the Citizens’ defence could be the deciding factor

Tonight, on Wednesday 15 February, the first part of the great battle for the Premier League king will begin. Arsenal’s opening game against Manchester City will be played at the Emirates Stadium. Which factors could decide the outcome?

Will Haaland be ready?

The most important question for Manchester City, but also for Arsenal. For the home team, first of all, because in case of his deployment, one of the stoppers will have to personally defend the Norwegian hitman. And that’s an unenviable role.

Haaland’s cruciality to the Citizens needs no long discussion. He’s been on half of the team’s goals, he just needs a bit of space to score. And it is logically advantageous for Manchester as a whole to have one player defended by a stopper. The other teammates then have more space.

Will Arteta take the risk?

The line-up Mikel Arteta started the season with is the one he has played with pretty much round after round. The injured Gabriel Jesus has been replaced by Eddie Nketiah, otherwise it’s still the same 4-3-3 formation. It’s just that the losses to Everton and Brentford call for changes.

Leandro Trossard, in particular, looks very comfortable after his transfer from Brighton. One of the Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli pairing is being offered as a replacement. Neither is in ideal form and Trossard will play any position in the attack.

Another versatile Takehiro Tomiyasu is also asking for a chance. Ben White has been sovereign on the right side of defence so far, but Brentford made a tearing calendar of him at the weekend and he wasn’t confident against Everton either. And Tomiyasu is a big pro and an honest man who will be needed at cornerback for Jack Grealish.

Citizens left side

Kicking off Joao Cancelo may have been a move to improve the atmosphere in the locker room, but the left-back is now out of options. Against the Villans, Pep Guardiola sorted it out his way – playing without a left-back.

However, that’s impossible against Arsenal, as Bukaya Saka is the biggest danger from the right side of the Gunners’ offense. Thus, the left will go, according to many Citizens fans, the club’s best stopper this season, Nathan Aké.

Aké is filling in on the left side and can give a decent performance there, but even the better speed midfielders have a lot of work to do to defend Saka, let alone the stoppers. So Aké’s performance will be one of the partial themes of not only Wednesday’s battle, but the entire title fight, including the rematch at the Etihad.

Source: Premier League