Football News: Premier League Match Preview Thursday 1st March 2018

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Thursday 1st March 2018

Arsenal v Man City 7:45pm kick off

Monreal (back injury) major doubt
Lacazette (knee injury expected return 11th March) out
Cazorla (plantaris injury) out

The Arsene out bandwagon is gaining pace as the Gunners have taken another step back this season. In previous years the FA Cup has been a saving grace for Arsene Wenger as Arsenal fail to challenge for the title. This time around the only 'trophy' looks like being the Charity Shield as they are out of the FA Cup, lost the EFL Cup final to today's opponents and are going to need a minor miracle to even get in the top 4. It has become all or nothing in the Europa League, a competition they would normally be disappointed just to be in! At least their one saving grace in the league is a strong record at home, which they will be hard pressed to maintain against a City side that pulled them apart at will on Sunday.
Most important player: Aaron Ramsey. The only one of the top 3 scorers this season likely to play, with Sanchez sold and Lacazette completely out of favour even when fit.

Fernandinho (hamstring injury) out
Sterling (hamstring injury) slight doubt
Mendy (ACL injury expected return 18th April) out
Delph (suspended) out

With Man City still strolling away with the league and the EFL Cup in the bag, there is little to really talk about with regards to the blue half of Manchester. There will of course be the constant focus on Pep Guardiola's ongoing defiance of FA regulations with his yellow ribbon, which he has made sure has lost any focus on the actual issue by his stance and hypocritical attitude with regard to the rights of people in Man City's owners Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Now it has just become about Pep versus the FA, rather than any actual political belief, sadly. Added to that, there is his other battle with the FA, which shows even more hypocrisy, with his claims to want all players protected from damaging challenges, but only when it is his players on the receiving end, as shown by his reaction when Fabian Delph launched into a nasty ankle breaker. It is a shame because all he is doing is damaging his own causes by turning them into a Pep versus the world lament.
Most important player: David Silva. With no Fernandinho to break up play, the quality of the little magician will be even more important to City.

Defining Battle: there are two big issues facing Man City in this match, complacency and the gaping hole where Fernandinho usually is. The loss of Fernandinho will probably fix the issue of any complacency following the stroll through Arsenal that was the EFL Cup final at the weekend, but they have no real answer to a lack of Fernandinho. I would expect Guardiola to go with a tactical reshuffle of kinds, maybe invert one or both fullbacks as he did so often last season, to help protect that dodgy central defence. Not that it will matter unless Arsenal are actually willing to offer some kind of quality and desire in their play, unlike Sunday, where they meekly surrendered.

Editors' Predictions:
Ed002 -
Ed003 - 2-2
Ed004 - 1-3
Ed007 - 0-2
Ed018 - 0-2
Ed025 - 1-1
Ed033 - 0-1

Editor's Predictions Table
1. Ed002 - 174 points
2. Ed025 - 173 points
3. Ed018 - 168 points
4. Ed033 - 163 points
5. Ed007 - 161 points
6. Ed004 - 158 points
7. Ed003 - 153 points

*1 point is awarded for the correct result, 3 points for the correct score.
**updated 23rd February 2018 (not including results for that day)

Written by Tris Burke March 01 2018 04:13:29