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Preview: Arsenal v Man City, team news, Ozil dropped + prediction

By on April 1, 2017

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Arsenal desperately need to get our Premier League campaign back on track with a win when we entertain Manchester City at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.

A run of four defeats from our last five league games has seen us drop out of the top four and we’re in real danger of failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time in over 20 years.

With Liverpool winning today, we now sit seven points adrift of the top four but we do have games in hand on our rivals and we can cut the gap to four points with a win tomorrow.

Our matches continue to be overshadowed by speculation surrounding Arsene Wenger’s future but let’s hope the players are fully focussed on the game as we simply can’t afford to lose to City.

Team News

Cech has been ruled out after suffering a calf strain during the defeat to West Brom before the international break so Opsina will start between the sticks tomorrow.

Perez is also still nursing a thigh injury but Ozil is in contention to make his first start in six weeks after overcoming a number of issues including a recent back injury.

Sanchez trained with the first team today after returning from his exploits with Chile and has showed no sign of the ankle injury he picked up at the Hawthorns so he’s available for selection.

As for City, they were handed a triple injury boost with the news that Zabaleta, Sterling and De Bruyne are all fit to face Arsenal this weekend.

Preferred XI

Our back five pretty-much picks itself but the real area of contention is what to do in midfield. I like the idea of playing three in the middle as it gives us more stability and Ozil can’t be 100% match fit having played so little in recent weeks. Against City, we need to control the midfield so I’d stick with Xhaka, The Ox and Ramsey with Ozil on the bench.

I also hope Wenger resists the temptation to recall Giroud and plays Welbeck alongside Sanchez and Walcott in attack.

This would be my line-up:

Prediction

We actually have an excellent home record against City having lost just one of our last 19 league games on home soil and I fancy us to get something from this game. Let’s be honest, City have been just as inconsistent as we have this season and they are just as sloppy at the back so we have the potential to create chances. I’m going to back the boys to secure a much-needed 2-1 win. Arsenal 2-1 Man City