Rattled Arsenal face Man City mettle test
Liverpool regain 2nd place after win
All-too-familiar questions about courage, backbone and durability surround Arsenal ahead of their trip to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City in the Premier League this weekend.
Arsenal’s 14-game unbeaten run had laid strong foundations for a determined tilt at the festive fixture list, only for Arsene Wenger’s men to come unstuck in Tuesday’s 2-1 defeat at Everton.
Wenger was left to voice time-worn complaints about an opponent’s “physical” approach, after his side shriveled amid the Goodison Park roar, but Petr Cech is desperate to show Arsenal are no pushovers.
“You have to pick yourself up,” the Arsenal goalkeeper told the club website.
“There is a big period coming up now with the games coming thick and fast and there is no time to dwell on the defeat.”
Arsenal’s defeat, courtesy of an 86th-minute header by Everton center-back Ashley Williams, was their first in the league since a slapdash 4-3 loss at home to Liverpool on the season’s opening weekend.
Compounding their disappointment, they now trail leaders Chelsea by six points, while all of the teams around them – Liverpool, City, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United – won their mid-week matches.
If there is a consolation for Arsenal it is that City are by no means firing on all cylinders themselves.
Guardiola’s side went four home games without victory in the league prior to Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat of Watford and recently fell to damag- ing losses against Chelsea (3-1) and Leicester City (4-2).
In the absence of the suspended Sergio Aguero, Nolito started up front against Watford and the Spanish forward is anticipating an open encounter at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
City will be without midfielder Ilkay Gundogan after he injured his knee against Watford, with reports in Germany on Thursday suggesting he could miss the whole season with ligament damage.
Chelsea secured a 10th straight victory by winning 1-0 at Sunderland and can register 11 successive league wins within the same season for the first time if they win at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Liverpool stole past Arsenal into second place courtesy of a 3-0 win at Middlesbrough and now face the London club’s conquerors, Everton, in a Monday night Merseyside derby.
Adam Lallana, who scored twice at the Riverside Stadium, said Liverpool’s display was “not too far off the complete performance,” but revealed manager Jurgen Klopp was not fully satisfied. “The manager has already quickly said to us that there are things we can improve on,” Lallana said.
Sixth-place United visit seventh-place West Bromwich Albion on Saturday buoyed after snatching a 2-1 win at Palace on Wednesday via Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s 88th-minute strike.
Bottom club Sunderland and struggling Middlesbrough also lie in wait for Jose Mourinho’s men over the festive season.