Written by Mean Lean on Saturday, 23 October 2010 22:37

After the European fun and games, the Gunners are back on domestic soil with a big obstacle standing in the way. Manchester City have started the season strongly and have only lost one game so far this season. A Darren Bent penalty in stoppage time has ruined what would have been an unbeaten start to the season.

The City of Manchester stadium has been a bit of a fortress so far this season, only Blackburn Rovers have managed to come away with a point but one thing is for certain, Arsenal will not be going there for only a point, we will want all three and I guess that we will be on the front foot from the very beginning. Manchester City have set their stall out against the bigger teams, they will be very well drilled, play a very combative midfield and try to deny Arsenal time and space to pick passes. They will have plenty in their side to cause us problems on the break.

Carlos Tevez is in sensational form and will give everything he has from the start until the end. Adam Johnson will cause Clichy problems by cutting onto his right side. I have been very impressed with David Silva's last few appearances. He looks like another player who would fit into an Arsene Wenger side without much fuss. Quick footballing brain, and has the ability to play the final pass.

After picking up only one point from Sunderland, West Brom and Chelsea we have won our last two games, both domestically and in Europe so we should be going to Manchester full of confidence. I have almost begun to lose the feeling of winning a big game, our recent form in the last few years has not been good enough but this is a perfect time to put an end to that. We should have picked up a result at Stamford Bridge but we shot ourselves in the foot, this time we will have our captain and assist king Cesc Fabregas back in the starting eleven which should make a big difference.

I cannot imagine the game being allowed to take place without one of the Manchester City players following Cesc around the pitch, this is where I think our midfield rotation will be very important. I suspect that Abou Diaby will come back in for the suspended Jack Wilshere and he will partner either Alex Song or Denilson, depending on Song's freshness after a few consecutive games.

Do not be surprised to see Cesc as the last midfielder when we have possession in the City half. Song may be given the job of switching with Cesc to take out one of their midfield players.

Tomas Rosicky could drop back down to the bench with Andrey Arshavin being restored to the left side of the attack. He has not scored in his last three games for Arsenal as well as two blanks for Russia, you would think he is due a goal. If there is a player to pop up in the right area in a tightly contested battle then it would be Andrey Arshavin.

Mean Lean's Predicted Line Up

(Click image to enlarge)

One to watch: Andrey Arshavin

The mercurial Russian has been playing somewhat under the radar this season, scoring five goals and creating goal scoring opportunities for fun. Yet you feel there is plenty to come from him. After being replaced with twenty minutes to go against Birmingham last Saturday then only playing for the last 18 on Tuesday you would feel that he has sufficient energy in his legs to give 100% when the kick off starts at 4pm.

Mean Lean's Match Prediction

Manchester City 0 Arsenal 1 (Arshavin)

I am expecting a tight and tense match. I am guessing that much of the game will be played in midfield as it was at Stamford Bridge. Abou Diaby could be another key figure in the Arsenal engine room. It could be his ability to run past players that could open the space for one of the wide attackers.

With our treatment room emptying out somewhat, Arsene has a relatively strong bench to choose from regardless of which players step onto the pitch at the kick off. I would imagine that Theo Walcott will start from the bench once again. Nicklas Bendtner is also another added fire power if needed.

Whatever happens we need to work very hard off the ball to deny them space, the eleven players in blue as well as their substitutes will have goals in them so it will be down to us to protect Lukasz Fabianski's goal. We need to keep the ball and create openings, they may not be regular but a few must come Arsenal's way. And when they do, this time we need to take them.

COME ON YOU GUNNERS

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Comments (5)

• 24-Oct-2010 08:56 | | Anonymous
  

  Last season we lost 4-2 without Man City having to break a sweat. Clichy went f***king AWOL that game facing SWP and Richards. I remember him winning the ball back and bombing forward without a care in the world only for Richards to win the ball back and 1-2-3 City scored what was either the 2nd or 3rd goal. City opened the scoring from a set piece we pulled a goal back from RVP and went all gung-ho - it was horrible to watch but an all too familiar sight nowadays. We conceded 42 goals last season and well on the way to eclipsing if not surpassing our goals against column this season. Money or no money there is no excuse neglecting to coach and improve players’ tactical discipline and defense. Refocus training or hire a designated defensive coach to make us more defensively sound. So it boils down to this.... we play like we did against Chelsea recently or say Man Utd at home last season we will be comprehensively beaten. Setup the way we did against Liverpool a couple of seasons ago during the 4-4 game we stand a chance. We need to learn to sit-back, soak up pressure, and kill teams with quick incisive passing. We possess the players to do this. We need to do onto teams what they do to us. But unfortunately I've seen to suggest that we've turned a new "defensive" corner so a 3-2, 3-1 City but I'd dearly love to be proved wrong.

• 24-Oct-2010 09:13 | | DKD  - OUT OF CONTEXT
  

  Im sorry if I am out of context so plz do forgive me, I own an arsenal blog my self, but Arsenal Vision "The Arsenal site for true gooner fans", should it not be Gunner fans, I mean gooner is an Arsenal fan so you know, its like " THE ARSENAL SITE FOR TRUE ARSENAL FANS FANS"
  I AM a Gooner, so I was just wondering this...SORY IF i HAVE GOT IT WRONG...FORGIVE MY IDIOTACY IF SO.
  Also, squad for manc
  fab
  sag
  dj
  SQ18
  clichy
  song
  nasr
  cesc
  theo
  arsh
  chamkh
  Cheers,
  DKD

• 24-Oct-2010 09:33 | | Goonerfish
  

  Good write up ML,
  
  I can't see us keeping a clean sheet today but as long as we score more than them, that's ok. We have the players able to win but it will all depend on our finishing. We will create 3 times as many chances than city but the question still remains can we finish enough of them. If we're on form Chamakh will be able to bustle his way to a goal. He could be a real handful for their CB's.
  I personally think a point will be an ok result but all 3 will bring back that good weekend feeling.

• 24-Oct-2010 12:04 | | Goonzilla
  

  Well said ML. You expressed my sentiments on todays game. I disagree with your prediction though. An Arsenal cleansheet away from home against a big 4 (or new big 4 if I may say) has not happenned since our 0-0 draw at Old Trafford 2 years ago, plus we are quite used to conceeding the odd goal every now and again.....
  
  You also rightly stated the fact that they do have some players who could hurt us on the break like Tevez and Silva....hence, my prediction is 2-1 to the Arsenal (Chamakh and Arshavin)

• 24-Oct-2010 18:31 | | MeanLean
  

  So so happy about the performance and result today. After watching a Fab not at his best still create so much I think the result would have been different if he was there.

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