Manchester City and Liverpool have been battling for the top spot in the Premier League in recent years. Recently, Arsenal have been recovering, leading to a three-way battle between the three teams. Last season, the race was deadlocked until the end of the season, but City were crowned champions.
This season, too, the three teams are favourites to win the championship. And for the first time, they clashed. The match between City and Arsenal took place at the Etihad Stadium. The home team took the lead, but Arsenal turned the tables. Nevertheless, they drew level at the last minute and shared the points.
Although it was a hard-fought game, with Rodri going off injured and Leandro Trosar leaving the field, the most notable aspect of the game was the strategy Arsenal took in the second half, when they were down a man.
Instead of leaving players in front, they played a completely drawn-out game with everyone defending, and ended up playing like a promoted team.
As a result, Mikel Arteta’s tactics paid off and the away side took the points.
However, City’s Portuguese midfielder Bernardo Silva was not happy with the way the game was played, citing Jurgen Klopp’s side against Liverpool and saying he was not happy with the passive approach.
“The difference? I don’t know. Maybe that Liverpool have already won a Premier League, Arsenal haven’t. That Liverpool have won a Champions League, Arsenal haven’t,”
“Liverpool always faced us face-to-face to try to win the games. From this perspective, the games against Arsenal haven’t been like the ones we had and have against Liverpool.”
When the German was in charge of Liverpool, the basic strategy was to go toe-to-toe with Manchester City throughout the game. Both sides played high possession football, looking to win the ball and get behind the opposition, and the speed of the game was one of the few exciting matches in the world.
Arteta, who worked under Josep Guardiola, was the only manager to see Arsenal and City see each other at many times in the game. Indeed, it is no surprise that fast-paced football is attractive in that respect, both as a player and as a spectator.
Will manager Arne Slott be able to show his best football without being intimidated by City and Arsenal…?