The Game

You may not like them, you may hate them and you may disagree with their transfer policy but Manchester City are this season a Top Four team in England.

It seems after trying with no luck for the last two seasons, City have finally hit the nail on the head and besides doing well in the offensive department it seems – if I’m reading the table right – they have the best defence at the moment with only 16 goals conceded. So I have to admit that maybe they didn’t do it the “right” way but they deserve credit for breaking in the Top Four.

As for us, beating them would be the icing on the cake after a very positive run during the Christmas period. To be honest, I consider this game as the one in which we are to show our maturity and improvement as let’s face it, Chelsea, this Chelsea, cannot be considered a measure of how much we improved.

But City is and as Samir Nasri said after the Birmingham game we need to get all three points to take back second place in the table and put even more pressure on leaders Manchester United.

To conclude, I’m optimistic ahead of tomorrow’s game, the players know how important this game is, not just for the table or pride or the future but also for the manager, for Arsene Wenger who this afternoon was saying how he wants to win things “his way” so the eleven to start the game will know that they have a point to prove and I’m sure they will prove it.

As always, my favourite line-up is below. Remember you can submit your own at Arsenal Interactive and then share it on Twitter and Facebook.

Favourite line-up

Putting the defensive department aside as I believe the same players who started at Birmingham will start tomorrow, it’s in midfield and in the offensive department where we may see changes.

Despite not featuring against Brum, I don’t think Marouane Chamakh will start and I hope not to see the Moroccan and Robin start alongside each other. Tomorrow’s game is too delicate for experiments or to show that Marouane can play with Robin in the same line-up. Another change I would make is to start with Andrey, he is a big-game type of player and I feel his experience can be a big asset on the day.

The rest is pretty much straight forward and easy to predict. With Abou Diaby out for three weeks and Cesc Fabregas back to his best against Birmingham, it would be foolish to make changes at the heart of the midfield. Tomas Rosicky and Theo Walcott to feature in the second half if required.

Pre-match Interviews

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger confirmed the Gunners were close to secure the services of Yaya Toure with the Frenchman revealing the Ivory Coast International was not patient enough to wait for his chance with the Gunners.

He said:

I know him very well, since he was 15 years old, so I know him for a long time. He is a top-class talent.

He was here as a young boy but we cannot get players in here if they are not internationals. He had no work permit and was too young. We tried to wait until when he was in Belgium, we tried to get him a European passport.

He was not patient enough and left for Metalurh Donetsk, that is the club where he went. He has made a big impact – he is a top class player. He came out of a frustrating season at Barcelona because he didn’t play last season at all but the year before he played and was very influential.

Last year he lost his position for Busquets and in midfield, he is the kind of player who needs to play, Yaya – we know him very well.

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini believes his team doesn’t possess the right experience to go on and win the English Premier League, not this year at least. According to the Italian, Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham all have more experience and the winner will be one of the four.

He said:

Arsenal, Chelsea, [Manchester] United and Tottenham all have more experience than us. Probably one of those four teams will win the title.

We just want to work, so we can improve and try to keep getting better.

The Gunning Hawk Coverage

As always, tune in for team line-ups, streaming links, half time and full time reports, post-match thoughts, video highlights and what the press is writing. And of course, do contribute if you want to by making use of the comment box available at the bottom of the post as it’s always nice to hear your opinion. And as a final note, if you want to go one step further than just leaving a comment and want to have your articles published on our website, take a look here for more information.

Arsenal Interactive

And of course, don’t forget you’re still in time to pick your preferred team for this game. And when the final whistle blows, don’t forget to rate the players, comment on their performances and share your personal ratings with your friends. All this and more, available at http://www.arsenal-interactive.com.