“If Arteta start him, I’ll score my first hatrick today…He’s just too good to play with”: Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres names ONE Arsenal’s teammates who he’ll love to play alongside against Manchester City today
The upcoming contest between Arsenal and Manchester City is one that is too early to be considered a title decider for both sides.
However, how both teams fare could determine where Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola’s respective sides stand for now.
Heading into the fixture, Manchester City are three points adrift of Arsenal, with the hosts looking more likely to challenge league leaders Liverpool for the title currently.
Regardless, some pundits like Troy Deeney reckon Manchester City will beat Arsenal.
Mikel Merino could be set to start for Arsenal and he had his say on City while previewing Sunday’s contest.
Mikel Merino predicts Man City to be in the title race
Pep Guardiola may be best-advised to seek Rodri’s advice about how to tame Merino, who has an eye for goal in open play and from set-piece situations.
Arsenal may be stunned if Manchester City beat them, considering Guardiola and Co will be away from home and so far this season, they have looked far more vulnerable than them.
Merino has predicted Manchester City to be in the title race, despite their shaky start to the campaign as he looked ahead to the clash via HaytersTV: “We’ve just started the league. There is no time to panic for any team. This is a long, long league, this is the toughest league in the world so it’s going to be hard for everyone to keep winning every single day.”
“It’s just the beginning, it’s going to be a long league and they’ll be in the race for sure.”
Mikel Merino record for Arsenal vs Man City
Merino has featured twice against
Manchester City, once for Arsenal when they won 5-1 in February and also during his time at Newcastle United when the Sky Blues won 1-0 in December 2017.
City’s seasoned campaigners will be hoping to take the Spaniard as well as Viktor Gyokeres and Cristhian Mosquera by surprise, as they have either not played against them or featured a few times.
While the visitors may not consider their contest against the Gunners as a do-or-die game in terms of winning the title, they will be desperate to come out on top after their 5-1 drubbing last season.
