Arsenal vs Manchester City: 3 key battles to look out for | Premier League 2022-23
Arsenal will go head-to-head with Manchester City in this week's midweek Premier League fixture. The game is scheduled to be played at the Emirates Stadium in London tonight, Wednesday (February 15)
The Gunners have been brilliant in the league this season and have registered 51 points from 21 league games. Similarly, they are the current league leaders.
Similarly, Manchester City have been sensational as well and have registered 48 points from 22 league games. Furthermore, they currently occupy the second position in the league's standings.
This fixture is crucial as a victory for Arsenal will extend the gap between them and the Cityzens, while a win for Manchester City will level them on points with the Gunners in the Premier League standings.
Hence, we will look at three key individual battles that could determine the outcome of this encounter.
#3 Riyad Mahrez vs Oleksandr Zinchenko
The Algerian struggled to impress at the start of the season. However, he has been sensational on the right flank in recent weeks. Mahrez has netted five goals and has registered four assists in 17 league games this season.
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Mahrez is also very tricky on the flank and his ability to advance with the ball from the flank and deliver dangerous crosses into the box can't be understated. Monitoring his movements in the final third is a tough task because he's always moving around.
Zinchenko will have to be defensively alert and robust if he intends to keep Mahrez under wraps. However, Zinchenko's familiarity with Mahrez's style of play gives him a decent standing in this battle.
#2 Bukayo Saka vs Aymeric Laporte
As the list of sensational youngsters in the Premier League keeps increasing, one of the players whose name is currently at the forefront of that list is Bukayo Saka.
The Englishman has been decent in attack this season and his attacking brilliance has seen him score seven goals and register eight assists in 21 league appearances this season.
One unique thing about him is his vision in the final third and also his ability to single-handedly wreck defenses. Monitoring his movements in the final third is a tough task as he's very fast and Laporte will definitely have his work cut out.
However, in the absence of an experienced left-back, Pep Guardiola could decide to go into this encounter with a three-man defensive set-up and it's most likely that Laporte will be tasked with silencing Saka. However, Laporte's defensive intuition is remarkable and it will be interesting to see if he achieves that.
#1 Erling Haaland vs Gabriel MagalhΓ£es
When you talk about clinical strikers, one of the names that comes to mind is Erling Haaland. The Norwegian is sharp in the final third of the pitch and his attacking brilliance has arguably enhanced Manchester City's attack this season. Haaland has netted 25 goals and registered four assists in 21 league appearances this season.
@ManCity
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Monitoring his movements in the final third is a tough task as he knows how to properly position himself in attack. Gabriel will have to be defensively alert if he intends to keep Haaland under wraps in this clash.
However, Gabriel has been decent and intuitive in defense in recent months, and silencing Haaland in this encounter remains his primary assignment.