A portion of the site dedicated to analyzing the weekly woes of Europe’s elite football clubs

Arsenal vs Manchester City

The resumption of the Premier League began with a goalless draw between Aston Villa and Sheffield United. Thankfully, the following fixture between Manchester City and Arsenal provided a bit more thrill for viewers at home. Although City and neutral fans alike were happy with today’s result, Arsenal supporters would struggle to have imagined a worse return to action. The Citizens made light work of the Gunners in a 3-0 win at the Etihad stadium.

The first concern going into the game would have had to have been Arsenal’s formation. Mikel Arteta, who formerly played for Arsenal and coached alongside Pep Guardiola, set his team up to play a 4-2-3-1. Against such a powerful team in Manchester City, the formation comes off as neither defensive nor offensive. It didn’t take long for the likes of Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, and Riyad Mahrez to exploit the meer two defensive midfielders guarding Arsenal’s back line. The dynamism of City’s attack was simply too much for Arsenal.

The elephant in the room would be none other than David Luiz. The former Chelsea man has never seemed to have found his feet for Arsenal. Despite this, he continues to make it into the team each week. The stability Luiz has brought to defenses in the past coupled with his will to attack earned him the position of one of the most coveted defenders in the world at one point.  Over the 2019-2020 season, the Brazilian appears to be more of a liability. After a quarantine spanning several months and several weeks of uninterrupted training, Luiz appeared impulsive, sluggish, and overwhelmed at the same time.  The culmination of these qualities yielded to a brash challenge in the 49th minute of the game when he brought Riyad Mahrez down in Arsenal’s penalty box. His departure from the game, administered by Anthony Taylor via red card, left the Arsenal side of ten men more susceptible to Manchester City.

Without fail, Manchester City added two more goals to their tally. It was a convincing win from Guardiola’s side, keeping Liverpool from securing the title just yet. Arsenal finds themselves on 40 points in 9th place. Arteta will be looking forward to the opportunity to earn more points before the end of the season. He may be even more excited to improve team tactics and dip into the transfer market to find more reliable personnel for this squad.