Since 2015, Arsenal has not been able to leave the Etihad with three points, but Gunners fans can put their faith in this trip, because the Gunners currently have a midfield capable of fighting back. with the super midfielders on the home side.

To win against Manchester City at their home stadium Etihad this Sunday, Mikel Arteta needs his midfield trio of Jorginho, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard to play at the highest level, or even higher. what they have shown in recent weeks.

The following is analysis by expert Adrian Clarke on the Premier League homepage on how Arsenal’s midfield can become key in the upcoming match.

When in possession of the ball, Arteta often asks his players to deploy in a 4-3-3 formation, but when the team loses the ball, they will be asked to play tighter in the middle area. At that time, Rice will slightly advance from the left wing to form a holding midfielder pair next to Jorginho.

It was this deployment that contributed to Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez’s inability to find a connection in Arsenal’s 1-0 win at home against Manchester City last October. In the match at the Emirates that day, the away team’s striker duo only had a total of 52 touches and 2 shots.

Not only Rice and Jorginho, captain Odegaard also needs to work hard to apply pressure to support his two teammates in separating coordination phases on Man City’s side. However, they will have to maintain the same discipline when playing at Etihad this weekend.

Create a defensive quadrangle in the middle of the field

The defending champions will certainly choose a cautious style of play by slowly deploying from the back. At that time, the person assigned to play as a false number 9, Kai Havertz, will have to join Odegaard to become Arsenal’s first line of defense.