Arsenal – Manchester City: The City Juggernaut Ploughs On (0-1)

Manchester City's flawless record in 2021 offered Arsenal little hope of finding a result against the best team in the land. City delivered, as their typically fluid 4-3-3 shape shone through, blitzing the home team early on. Mikel Arteta’s men fought back with their own intriguing structures and similar principles, but City looked in first gear and were a class apart.

Tactical analysis and match report by Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere.

Manchester City look back to their best, taking a twelfth straight league victory in midweek. As part of a seventeen game winning streak in all competitions that stretches back to December, they now sit ten points clear at the top of the table. As the chasing pack searches for form, the title race seems over. But harboring ambition of greater success, the guests’ relentlessness shows no signs of slowing down.

Arsenal have put together a decent run of form in their own right. Taking twenty of the last thirty possible points in the league, the home team have slowly climbed up the standings. Yet, sitting tenth in the table, this streak only reflects how far the club has fallen. Now facing a side that they have not beaten at home since 2015, the home side hoped to upset the odds.

Pep Guardiola set up the away team in a fluid 4-3-3 shape. With half an eye on the tie with Borussia Mönchengladbach, he made several changes to the lineup. At the back, Aymeric Laporte made way for John Stones, whom Oleksandr Zinchenko flanked on the left. Rodri dropped to the bench, letting Fernandinho step into midfield, while İlkay Gündogan . . .