Mikel Arteta has never beaten Pep Guardiola’s Man City side in a Premier League game (Picture: Getty)
Paul Merson is struggling to see how Arsenal can end their Manchester City hoodoo on Sunday without injured wingers Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.
The Gunners have lost an astonishing 12 consecutive Premier League games against the reigning champions and are likely to be minus the services of two players who helped power last season’s title challenge.
Martinelli has been out since the start of the month when he picked up a hamstring strain in a 1-0 win at Everton, while Saka limped out of Tuesday’s Champions League defeat at Lens where his side surrendered their unbeaten start to the new campaign.
Although the Gunners enjoyed a morale boosting Community Shield win over City back in August, their head-to-head record against Pep Guardiola’s relentless winning machine does little to inspire confidence they can set the record straight this weekend.
The absence of City’s midfield linchpin Rodri, who is still serving a suspension, may give Arsenal fans some measure of encouragement, but Merson fears Arteta’s own injury concerns negate that potential advantage.
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He told Sportskeeda: ‘If I had predicted this game on Tuesday, I’d have definitely backed Arsenal to win this game. Manchester City are without Rodri and they aren’t the same team.
‘Arsenal will now have to do without Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, and I can’t see how Arsenal can win this game. You’ve got to remember that Kevin De Bruyne also isn’t playing at the moment. He gets a lot of assists, but people forget about his passes before the assists.
‘Erling Haaland makes a lot of runs, but City haven’t got too many players apart from De Bruyne who can thread the eye of the needle with their passes. I think that’s why Haaland is struggling to get his goals at the moment.
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‘I thought Kalvin Phillips would’ve played every game in Rodri’s absence – he seems like the natural replacement. It does depend on what Pep Guardiola wants to do – I don’t think he’ll be content with stopping Arsenal’s rhythm. He will want to dictate play, and he’ll probably use Kovacic instead.
‘Arsenal got an opening in the title race last week, and they’ll need to make the most of it. You’ve got to make hay while the sun shines with this City team. If Man City are held to a draw here, they’ll have picked up only one point in their last two games. It also offers Liverpool and Tottenham a chance to fight for the Premier League title.
‘I don’t think Arsenal need to win this game, but they need to make sure they don’t lose. If they get beat here, it’s deja vu – they lost both their games against Manchester City last season. It’s going to be a very cagey match, and I think it’ll end in a draw.’
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