The Game

All the optimism, all the believe and all the expectations came to a halt after last week’s defeat against Wigan Athletic in a game which the Gunners led 2-0 with 10 minutes to go.

Today, Arsenal will try to bounce back from their last two defeats and secure all three points against a very determined Manchester City side. Roberto Mancini’s men will surely be determined to take full advantage of Spurs’ defeat in today’s early kick off in order to consolidate their position in the top four.

The game, will also of course feature the return to the Emirates of Emmanuel Adebayor, who upset many Gunners in September after kicking his own teams and celebrating under the travelling fans when the two teams met at the City of Manchester Stadium.

And of course, it’s the return of Kolo Toure and of the legend, Patrick Vieira, who captained Arsenal for so many games and who almost never disappointed expectations when playing in the red and white jersey. A warm reception is ready for the Frenchman, but what sort of reception will Adebayor get this afternoon?

Streaming Links

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The Line-Ups

Arsenal

Fabianski, Sagna, Campbell, Silvestre, Clichy, Rosicky, Nasri, Walcott, Diaby, Song, Van Persie

Subs: Mannone, Eastmond, Traore, Eboue, Vela, Eduardo, Bendtner

Manchester City

Given, Zabaleta, Toure, Kompany, Bridge, Johnson, Barry, Vieira, de Jong, Tevez, Bellamy

Subs: Nielsen, Richards, Onuoha, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Santa Cruz, Adebayor

Half-Time Thoughts and Analysis

It’s been a very, very quiet first half of football the one which we just witnessed at the Emirates. Knowing that Spurs lost, Manchester City seem happy to keep the pace low hoping to get one point which would be of mighty importance in their quest for a top four finish.

Arsenal, on the other hand, welcome Robin van Persie back in the starting line-up but with no second striker alongside him, he’s been surrounded with blue jerseys as soon as he was on the ball.

All in all, we again see positive notes from Sol Campbell who has been terrific in taking care of Carlos Tevez and I must say that even Silvestre has had a good first half with some very-well timed interceptions.

At half time, it’s Arsenal nil, Manchester City nil.