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Arsenal and Manchester City clash two times in five days’ time in London. The two clubs would first attempt to grab the first piece of silverware on offering when they face off in Wembley for the Carabao Cup on Sunday, before returning to Premier League action in a rare Thursday night match.
Manchester City clearly boast of a superior squad in terms of depth and quality, and while Arsenal tend to step up their game when they are at Wembley, a safe bet would be to go with Manchester City to come out on top in both games.
We tried to draw up a starting 11 out of the two squads in question. Who do you think would make the cut? Would Manchester City dominate this lineup, just as how they have dominated the league this season? Keep on reading to find out!
Note: Only the players declared fit to play have been considered for selection.
Goalkeeper
Petr Cech is a Premier League legend and he will be known as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation. He had a phenomenal time with Chelsea and while he seemed to have the Arsenal goalkeeping situation under control during the first couple of years, he hasn’t been anywhere near his best during this season.
Manchester City’s Ederson has had a good season so far, and has shown great composure while guarding the net. While Claudio Bravo has been the mainstay during the Carabao Cup games, Ederson is expected to be the first name on the sheet in both the encounters, and he is our pick for this combined eleven.
Defence
A classic four-at-the-back defence formation is the pick for the defence of this lineup, and at right-back is Kyle Walker, who looks all set to earn his first major honour, having moved to Manchester City in the summer.
While he has moved on from Tottenham Hotspur and doesn’t have to think a lot about North London superiority, the prospect of beating Arsenal twice inside one week would still be something that could motivate him.
The two centre-backs also wear blue, as the pairing of John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi are the names on this teamsheet. In the absence of a leader in Vincent Kompany, these two have been quite the mainstays in the lineup.
Otamendi’s goal threat also adds another dimension to his game and makes him a crucial part of this team. Laurent Koscielny could have possibly challenged for one of the centre back spots, but his poor form and lack of leadership which we’ve come to expect of him has kept him out of this lineup.
There is no question about the potential of City’s Aymeric Laporte but he also misses out as he has only played a couple of games in the Premier League.
The first Arsenal player on this teamsheet is in the form of Nacho Monreal, who takes control of the proceedings at left-back. His actual position in the Arsenal lineup has been confusing, to say the least, but the absence of a fit natural left-back, combined with Monreal’s consistency over the season helps his case in representing Arsenal in this defence.
Midfield
Just as Arsenal’s Wembley winning streak was halted by Tottenham Hotspur a couple of weeks ago, Arsenal’s one-player streak in this lineup comes to a halt immediately as the talk of setting up the midfield begins.
Granit Xhaka’s consistency in not performing the basic holding duties keeps him out of the lineup, and that has virtually been the case with the entire Arsenal midfield this season as they have failed to take control in almost all the games played away from home this year.
The only bright spots, albeit occasionally, have been Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey but neither of the two make it to this lineup.
It’s an all-blue midfield that we are going with for this lineup, as the trio of Fernandinho, David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne grace the centre of the field. Kevin de Bruyne, especially, has been extraordinary this season, and played a big part in their 3-1 victory over Arsenal at Etihad Stadium earlier in the season.
City have, so far, clearly dominated this lineup and with the goal-scoring talent at their disposal, would there be any Arsenal player making the cut when it comes to forwards? Let’s move to the next slide to find out!
Forwards
Goals win you matches and both teams boast of strong attacking divisions. The new signings of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have created a ‘fabulous front four’ of sorts for Arsenal (adding Alexandre Lacazette and Mesut Ozil to the two names above), and while they do have immense potential to cause multiple problems to the opposition, they would need an extended run before we start considering them as a force to reckon with.
The forwards at the Sky Blues, however, have actually proved it throughout the season. They have scored 111 goals so far across all competitions, with 79 of them coming in the league, and are well on track to break the league record of 103 goals set by Chelsea.
On the left wing, we have gone with Raheem Sterling, who has had the best season of his career so far. With 20 goals in 35 matches across competitions, he is currently City’s second highest goal scorer of the season and is an obvious selection.
At right wing, we are going with Mesut Ozil, and while we understand that the central attacking midfielder role is better suited for his style of play, he could do a decent job from the right.
Pep Guardiola would have been pleased to see Leroy Sane declared fit for the game, and while he would have possibly kept Ozil out of this lineup, owing to his early season form, an absence of adequate match time of late keeps him out and gives the World Cup winner a spot instead.
Manchester City’s all-time highest goal-scorer Sergio Aguero takes the all-important position of the centre-forward. Aguero has started 2018 extraordinarily, having scored 14 goals in the first two months already.
He is at 29 goals for the season, and at 198 in his Manchester City career. Expect him to break a couple of records and milestones over the two games in this week.
Final Lineup: Ederson; Kyle Walker, John Stones, Nicolas Otamendi, Nacho Monreal; Fernandinho, David Silva, Kevin De Bruyne; Mesut Ozil, Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero
City have managed to show the same assertion and dominance in this lineup, as they have done over their rivals during the season.
Do you agree with the selections? Would you have any more Arsenal players or would you just go with an all-City lineup? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
