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The Carabao Cup final beckons upon us as Manchester City will take on Arsenal in a clash where the latter are the favourites to beat the former. And why not? Pep Guardiola’s men are 16 points ahead of their nearest rival, Manchester United, and 27 points ahead of the Gunners.
This a team that have scored 79 goals in the league in just 27 games and, on their day, can beat any team in the world—and that includes the mighty Barcelona and Real Madrid.
So, how on this earth, pray tell, could Arsenal possibly ‘destroy’ Man City? They could—and here are the 5 reasons why…
#5 Liverpool have shown the way
When the seemingly unbeatable Manchester City met an easily-breakable Liverpool defence, it only pointed towards one thing: total decimation. After all, it was a clash between the unstoppable force that the Etihad’s attack possess against a fragile object that the backline of the Merseyside always have been.
At one point in the game, the Reds were leading 4-1 against the best side of the league. They could have easily scored more and completed an utter humiliation of Pep Guardiola’s men. Indeed, Klopp’s men showed that even the best of England can be broken.
Despite the fact that they conceded two more to finish the match 4-3, Liverpool showed that attacking with vertical pace while on the counter dismantles the Manchester outfit.
#4 Arsenal akin to Liverpool
And this is where Arsenal could damage the Citizens. Before the winter transfer window, this wasn’t possible simply because the Gunners didn’t have the players necessary to do something like what Liverpool did.
The Red have perhaps the best trio in the league, but Arsenal’s newly formed trio of Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan are also up there among the elites. Like the trio of Salah, Mane and Firmino, the North London’s famous trio also have the pace, precision and creativity required to inflict pain on the counter.
City play a high line and Mesut Ozil has the vision to feed balls to Aubameyang, who is one of the fastest players in the world right now. And then there is the wizardry of Mkhitaryan from the sides.
#3 City are down
When a third-tier outfit manage to overcome the top team in England, it goes on to show that perhaps Guardiola’s men are not the Gods that fans make them out to be. Regardless of the fact that the Citizens were down to 10 men against Wigan, losing to them is a sure sign of something is wrong.
For starters, City were playing in four competitions. As a result, the body has to take a toll on the players, who are not being rotated like they should be. Guardiola, to be fair, has never been much of a rotation manager, which is why his teams often struggle during the final few months of a season.
Fatigue always plays a role in a team failing in seemingly easy matches. As Arsenal don’t have to deal with the gruelling Champions League fixtures, they are perhaps the fresher side, which gives them an advantage over the oil-rich City.
#2 Arsenal’s tendency to win Cup finals
The Gunners are one of the most laughed-at clubs in the world. From being Invincibles to not winning a trophy for 8 years, Arsenal’s rise and fall under Wenger has been spectacular—and not in a good way. In their last two games, they lost to Tottenham and then to the lowly Ostersund.
The latter happened in their own home ground at the Emirates, plummeting them further in the depths of mockery. In FA Cup finals, however, Wenger’s men have an almost impeccable record in this millennium.
Indeed, they have only lost one of the seven finals that Arsenal have played in the FA Cup since 2000. They have won their last six FA Cup finals and while this might not be an FA Cup final, Wenger’s record in finals of English tournaments is a good basis to make a call here.
#1 Arsenal’s only chance
Arsenal didn’t qualify for the Champions League this season. They were also dumped out of the FA Cup by a spirited Nottingham Forest. In the Premier League, they are behind league leaders Manchester City by 27 points and are also out of the top 4 places as of now.
As a result, the Gunners’ only chance to win a trophy this year is the Carabao Cup—and they are only a step away from it. Every player in the Arsenal team knows that this is their only chance to win something this year and will, hence, give it their best shot.
For City, the league has already been won. On top of that, they are in a bit of a quandary after their loss to Wigan. As a result, there is every reason for Arsenal to fancy their chances in the final.
