City, Arsenal have much to prove

By Daily Sports on December 16, 2016

Manchester City's fragility and Arsenal's durability will be under the microscope at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday as both clubs try and keep in touch with Premier League leaders Chelsea.

A first win over Arsenal for three years would stabilise City's title challenge after a difficult period for Pep Guardiola's side who got back on track in midweek with a welcome clean sheet in a 2-0 home victory over Watford.

Arsenal looked like Chelsea's main rivals until a midweek defeat at Everton ended an unbeaten league run stretching back to the opening day of the season.

Those results left Arsenal and City in third and fourth place respectively after 16 games but by the time they kick off on Sunday could find themselves nine and 10 points adrift of Chelsea who visit Crystal Palace at lunch time on Saturday.

An 11th consecutive win for Chelsea in the weekend's opening fixture against a Palace side flirting with the relegation zone would raise the stakes considerably for the chasing pack.

Second-placed Liverpool face local rivals Everton on Monday while Tottenham Hotspur, who are fifth, host Burnley on Sunday. Sixth-placed Manchester United visit West Bromwich Albion on Saturday seeking a third straight victory.

City's triumph over Watford followed defeats by Chelsea and champions Leicester City that had manager Guardiola defending himself against accusations his tactics were confusing the players.

The Spaniard is unused to such attacks but there was a sense he told his players to stick to basics against Watford when he re-shaped his defence, dropping John Stones.

A first home league win since September 17 was the perfect fillip before facing an Arsenal side that, until Tuesday's defeat, had been scoring for fun.

City will still be without suspended duo Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho – a legacy of the late melee against Chelsea – while German midfielder Ilkay Guendogan faces a long layoff after suffering a knee injury against Watford.

While Guardiola has been under the spotlight, Arsene Wenger has looked serene with his Arsenal side showing no sign of the kind of slumps that have undermined so many title challenges since they were last champions in 2004.

That was until defeat at Everton. A quick riposte would allow that result to be filed away as a 'blip' but a second consecutive defeat on the road would rob them of all momentum heading into the cluster of Christmas fixtures.

"We have to recover. We play five games away from home out of six and we have a fantastic away record. We want to keep that strength and prepare well for the next one," Wenger said.

Chelsea will hope to equal their 2009 11-match league winning streak under Carlo Ancelotti when they take on Palace. (supersport.com)

•Photo shows Alexis Sanchez

Source Daily Sports

Posted December 16, 2016


 

You may also like...
Pellegrini gets first win for Wrst Ham in...

Everton Beat Arsenal 2-1 To Compound Arteta’s woes...

Balogun Ruled Out Of Rangers’ Clash With Motherwell...

Rohr names Mikel, 23 others for Algeria

Premier League 2019/20 Season to Start on August...

Harry Maguire Made Manchester United Captain To Succeed...

 

Latest News Nigeria beat Cameroon to reach IHF final 27 schools for Doregos Basketball Championship Super Falcons to play France’s Les Bleues in friendly SWAN suspends ban on coverage of Anambra FA activities Joshua among boxing’s top three earners in 2024 Oshoala makes history with Bay FC Nnamani hails team over IHF bright start Flamingos lift U-17 W’Cup Fair Play Trophy Rangers Intl, SWAN partner on sports collaboration in SE LAGOS SWAN CELEBRATES AIG ZONE 2 ON HIS BIRTHDAY AND 30 DAYS IN OFFICE Traders Cup: Upholstery Soccer Team Secured 2nd Win To Advance To Round Two Lagos SWAN Celebrates Oba Akiolu, Iyaloja General, AIG Fayoade

 

Most Read Rangers International going, going . . . (55,142 views) Amaju Pinnick: A cat with nine lives (46,269 views) Second Term: Amaju Pinnick, Other NFF Heavyweights Home to Roost •How Pinnick Broke the Jinx (44,350 views) Missing $150,000 IAAF Grant: Solomon Dalung’s Hide and Seek game (43,991 views) Sports Development: Zenith Bank on the zenith (43,931 views) Current issues in Nigerian sports: Matters arising (43,879 views) Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje’s solid footprints, commitment to sports development in Kano State (43,718 views) NFF Presidency: Pinnick, Maigari, Ogunjobi, Okoye in Battle for Supremacy (43,289 views) Olopade, BET9A wave of revolution in NNL (42,333 views) Commonwealth Games 2018: Shame of Muhammadu Buhari, Solomon Dalung (41,036 views) Ibrahimovic’s Man U exit: Whose decision is it? And in whose interest? (39,489 views) John Mikel Obi: Segun Odegbami’s Outrageous Call! (38,916 views)

 

Phone numbers

Tel: +234(0)8066020976
+234(0)8055068145
+234(0)7013416146
+234(0)8094272884

Email addresses

info@dailysportsng.com
support@dailysportsng.com
publisher@dailysportsng.com

Office address

No 3, Adetoun Close, Off College Road, Ogba, Ikeja Lagos.
Website: www.dailysportsng.com

Social Media