Some Premier League fans believe Arsenal’s failure to beat Manchester City in March, when they drew 0-0, contributed to their losing the title race. Manchester City star Rodri even accused Arsenal of playing for a draw at the Etihad. He insinuated the Gunners were content with a draw rather than striving for a victory despite us being completely in command of the game.
With the same fixture coming soon, the ex-Man City defender and pundit Andy Morrison has already made his prediction for the Manchester City vs. Arsenal match in the official CityMag. The two face off on September 22nd, which will be the second Premier League match day following the international break.
Gooners will be hoping that all of the criticism the team has received following the March draw inspires them to win their first game against City at the Etihad since 2015. Well, as tight as the game is expected to be, given how defensively solid the two sides are, Morrison believes Manchester City would just come out on top, picking up a 1-0 win over the North Londoners.
“What a game! I think the Arsenal players will have Rodrigo’s words ringing in their ears, and I can’t see them coming and closing shop again,” said Morrison.
“Last season, I think they thought they just needed a draw and that would be enough to edge the title race; this time I think they’ll go all out to win, which will make it more open. I still think the defences are too good for a goal glut, so I’m going for us to just shade it.”
Arsenal will once again be underdogs in that game, given Manchester City’s bright start to the season, Haaland’s goal-scoring prowess, and the Gunners’ struggle to win at the Etihad in previous recent meetings. There is no doubt that the Cityzens are set to be the hot favourites to win, but you would probably need to put the worth of a big jackpot from a no id verification casino or raid your hidden bitcoin profits to try and make some money from backing the favourites, especially as they have not lost a home League game since December 2022.
Nonetheless, this Arsenal team excels at proving naysayers wrong. By channelling inspiration from the disappointing end of last season when City came back and snatched the title from us, the Gunners will finally slay the king and prove they don’t play for draws.
Pragmatism is the name of the g8ame here. Rodri’s mind game should be completely ignored.
For me, we do exactly what we did last March. Inter did the same thing with great outcome.
This is not the time to go wholesale against City. The Arsenal is not at full
strength yet. The “if you can’t win it, don’t lose it” strategy is the most appropriate under the circumstances
We need to be patient in a game of this nature, they have enough players to replicate a Spuds like attack on us.
Surely our mental strength will be tested
I’m pretty sure City will be more formidable than our last EPL opponents actually turned out to be. “Poor” was the adjective often used in the media to describe that particular showing. I doubt we’ll get two “Poors” in a row.
With Haaland already on 9 EPL goals (to think that’s more than twice as many as Jesus scored in total last season), Arsenal don’t want to be too “gung-ho”. They’ve a good very recent record against City so anything is possible. Even a point there wouldn’t be a disaster at this early stage though.
‘will Arsenal go all out for three points’ = safety first more likely to be the Arteta approach, even with Odegaard
so ‘no’ not all out, more like a repeat of last season and Spurs recently, hoping to nick a winner