Manchester City-Arsenal, chapter one. Second against first in the Premier, but this Friday what about them at the Etihad Stadium is to reach the round of 16 in the FA Cup. Mikel Arteta, dreaming of leading Arsenal to their first English league title since 2003-04, will tour the changing room tunnel he knows so well tonight, but did not sit next to his friend Pep Guardiolawhere he was an assistant at Manchester City between 2016 and 2019, but to occupy the visiting bench.
This will be the seventh time that Guardiola and Arteta will face each other as coaches. The Arsenal coach won only once and it was certainly in the FA Cup: the ‘Gunners’ 2-0 against Pep’s City in the semifinals of the 2019-20 edition. That FA Cup was Arteta’s first title won in charge of Arsenal. Then came the Community Shield against Liverpool, also in 2020. The other 5 meetings between Arteta and Guardiola resulted in City victories (4 in the Premier and one in the quarterfinals of the 2020-21 League Cup).
After this FA Cup tie, City and Arsenal meet again on February 15, in the Premier at the Emirates, and on April 26, again at the Etihad and in this case in the English championship.
In the Premier, Arsenal are leading at the moment, with 5 points ahead of City (who also played one game more than first classified). Arteta already recognized on Wednesday that before Guardiola “I want to face others, but it will not change our friendship, how important he is in my life and in my profession.” And he once again assured that “City is the best team in the world.” It remains to be seen if Arteta will make some rounds today. For example, Matt Turner could start in goal instead of Aaron Ramsdale.
Pep Guardiola keeps working with Arteta “He made me a better coach.” Guardiola can also make some rotations now and Argentine world champion Julián Álvarez will start instead of Erling Haaland (already author of 25 stratospheric goals in the Premier), unless the Catalan coach decided to make them both play from scratch.
Gabriel Jesus, who last summer went from Manchester City to Arsenal, He is out due to injury and therefore will not be able to face his former team. In the ‘citizen’ ranks Phil Foden had problems with a foot problem.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
