I don’t like playing Arsenal at the best of times. For me, it’s just never a game I enjoy. Even the 6-3, it wasn’t particularly enjoyable until we pulled away and the outcome was pretty much certain. This time however, I’m looking forward to it even less. It’s the start of a tough run, and we need to get off to a good start, but Arsenal are a fairly sizeable obstacle to that goal.
Of course, I’m always slightly more confident when we’re at home. We perform better against the bigger teams at home, and that’s shown through in the last few years. We haven’t lost at home to The Gunners for over four years now, whereas we only got our first league win at Arsenal since 1975 a couple of years ago. For that reason, I always feel a bit safer playing at home than away.
Sunday will be a big test, seeing how City can cope without the presence of Yaya Toure in midfield, who’s off at the African Cup of Nations. It’s always a shame to lose him for this month of the season, as we always seem to have tough games, with this year being no different. However, Fernando and Fernandinho did a pretty good job as the central midfield partnership against Everton last week, and there’s always the option to bring Frank Lampard in if we need to. His wide range of passing his been vital when we’ve been struggling at times this season, which is why he may come into the side on Sunday.
Whilst Yaya will certainly be missed, I’m quite pleased to see Aguero and Kompany both back fit. There were doubts about whether they’d make it back for this game, but both have been back in full training for some while now, so should be able to make it. Aguero managed to make a rusty cameo in the draw at Goodison Park, but after a week’s more training, he must be fitter now.
After the two games we’ve played against you this season, I’m slightly nervous about Sunday. Our defence has been shaky at times this year, and we need to be able to defend against players like Sanchez if we want to get a result. As long as Kompany is back fit and firing, and manages to stay fit and firing for a full 90 minutes, we should be okay. Okay being the operative word.
Prediction: City 3, Arsenal 1. Gael Clichy hat-trick on the cards.
