Arsenal: Merson reveals ‘real headache for Arteta’ in Man City prediction; Saliba makes ‘not the end’ claim
Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta faces “real headache” ahead of the match against Man City as he must decide whether to stick with Jorginho or not, according to Paul Merson.
The Gunners have made a good start to the new Premier League season but they are still two points behind the Citizens, who have a perfect four wins from four matches so far this term under Pep Guardiola.
Arsenal dropped two points at home to Brighton before the international break but they bounced back from that draw by beating arch-rivals Tottenham 1-0 in the North London derby last weekend at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
After finishing first and second in the Premier League last season, runners-up Arsenal travel to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday to face defending champions Man City in a crucial early-season clash.
And now Arsenal legend Merson has previewed the fixture and given his prediction to Sportskeeda ahead of the key Premier League match.
Merson said: “If Arsenal had lost or dropped points against Tottenham last week, this could’ve been a must-win game for them. But now this is just a game they must not lose and there’s a difference in that.
“Arsenal defended well in the derby win over Spurs and it was similar to Inter in their draw in the Champions League opener against Manchester City. But even when Inter were so brilliant at the back, City still carved out chances throughout the game.
“No matter how suffocated they get, City always end up creating chances. Tottenham don’t have this quality and hence, Arsenal have a bigger challenge this weekend. They have to be switched on for more than 90 minutes to get a result. It’s also important for Arsenal to try and trouble City on the counter. They just can’t let their opponents come at them again and again, if that happens they’ll get found out.
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“It won’t be as comfortable as the game against Tottenham. I have a strong feeling Jorginho will play this game despite Declan Rice returning from his suspension. With Kai Havertz in midfield the other day, it really helped both Thomas Partey and Jorginho. One thing Jorginho does really well is, he keeps the ball. During the 1-0 win at Emirates last season, City could not touch him, he was just too good.
“It’s a real headache for Arteta now. He must decide whether he should play Jorginho or not. A quick word on William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes as well, they are the best centre-back pair in the league. But I feel sometimes the work that happens in front of them goes unnoticed. Partey and Rice are both very disciplined and provide a lot of cover to the centre-backs. I like John Stones and Ruben Dias together, but they don’t play with each other consistently enough like the Arsenal duo.
“Kevin De Bruyne is likely to miss this game, but City have incredible depth. Their squad is unreal. However, I feel that the Julian Alvarez transfer could be the one that hurts them in the end, even though they got a lot of money out of it. My head is saying Manchester City win, but my heart says ‘don’t get beat Arsenal.’ But if I had to pick one team to win, that would be City. I’m still going for a draw here. Prediction: Manchester City 1-1 Arsenal.”
William Saliba insists it would not be the end of Arsenal’s hopes of winning the Premier League title if they lost to Man City over the weekend.
Saliba told FOX Sports: “If you win against them but not against others it doesn’t mean anything. So, of course, we want to win this weekend and we will give everything to win but it’s not the end on Sunday.”
