I know it may sound contradictory, but Arsenal don’t need to risk it all today.
A lot of Gooners, I myself included, were left bemused at our lack of threat in our first UCL game of the new campaign against Atalanta in midweek. A game where we saw the return of the vicious circle of sideways passing, we thought has been dead and buried for a while now.
Our unwillingness to take risks in that game baffled me the most with us struggling to exploit their man to man press in a game where we were clear favorites, today however will be a very different scenario with us coming up against arguably the best football team in the world, and with that in mind then we shouldn’t take unnecessary risks that’ll see us lose today.
A lot of pressure has already been put on our shoulders to win heading into this encounter, with the game already being billed as a make or break to our chances of winning the league and we’re still only in September! However, this should not be the case because whether we win, lose or draw this match we’ll still have so much to play for in the 33 remaining games of the season, not to mention that we’ll still have a chance of rectifying any wrongs here in the reverse fixture later in the campaign. Furthermore, the key absentees we’ll be having for this game is another reason why we should not be risking it all for a win, we’ll be without our best creator so what are the odds of us scoring two goals if they score us one first? Slim in my opinion so therefore keeping it simple, especially in possession, will absolutely be key for us.
If we had lost or drawn the Spurs game this would have been a completely different story, but we didn’t, which is another reason why we must not take too many risks in today’s game. I know we’ll be tempted to prove Rodri wrong about our mentality, but staying levelheaded and realistic will help us even more than that. A point away to the City would be fantastic, they don’t drop too many of those at home, so we’ll be happy if we do get it.
Winning against our biggest title rival is not always a guarantee of title success at the end of the campaign, we taking four points off them last season and still falling short is a testament to that. However a win would do our chances a world of good even this early in the season but we should firstly do everything in our power to make sure we don’t lose this game first!
KENNETH BENJAMIN.
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Leaving the Etihad with a clean sheet is a massive result, regardless of what happens at the other end, there will be enough time to collar the champion.
We are hungrier and with youth in our favor our chances are good as gold.
Arsenal needs to be careful, of course. A “gung-ho” approach against a team that hasn’t lost at home since Brentford beat them back in 2022 doesn’t look to be very clever no matter how good our defence is – and even the best can occasionally slip up.
I think we also need to be a little careful pushing this “weakened Arsenal” line generally. Yes, Odegaard is missing and that’s a blow and particularly inconvenient given the opponents today. However, things happen like that in football and not just to Arsenal at key times. It’s a squad game – and has been for many decades now.
Arsenal will have to cope like any other team has had to. For example, City lost Haaland for, I think, a run of eight EPL games last season and still did OK – unfortunately.
To me, this is, if you like, an early – and really big – opportunity for Arteta to prove he’s worth the reported £15m a year contract he’s just received. And it’s an opportunity for all the players selected to show what they can do.
So, a cautious approach but the squad’s the thing, not absent players, and it’s over to you Arteta.
Sterling could be the gaffer Trump card in a game of this nature, but he has to play 45 minutes or more to make the intended impact
A draw would be a great result for me
COYG!!
I agree CM.
Play it safe, park the bus, play not to lose, I’m sorry but I think that would be a mistake.
If we want to surpass City, we should play to beat them and win. Maybe we win, maybe we lose, but it’s somewhat a defeatist attitude to not even try.
So play for a draw, then hope someone else can beat City while we don’t lose any games?
Extend Arteta, spend 800 million rebuilding, only to play for a draw and hope someone else can beat them because we won’t even try?
We have injuries yes, but Trossard can play as a 10, Partey and Rice are good for double pivot, Havertz is a good CF, and we have the best defense in Europe.
Let’s go for it, let’s play like Champions rather than be safe like 2nd place bridesmaids