As expected, the key bit of questions that dominated proceedings of the Manchester City pre-match press conference was the fitness of Bukayo Saka. The gaffer was keeping his cards close to his chest and according to Arseblog, he now has a tattoo of the 9 of diamonds above his left nipple.
“Well, he is in contention, we’ll see how he progresses from here to Sunday. Obviously he had to leave the pitch [against RC Lens], that’s never good news, but let’s see how he recovers.”
Saka is a player that always loves to play for Arsenal when fit, or not, and for those that don’t know, he has featured in 87 consecutive Premier League games which is a testament of his elite fitness levels and consistency. Manchester City is Arsenal’s biggest test in the Premier League campaign, but so far, the Gunners have fared very well in the division, grinding out some results, while being convincing in others.
Sticking with player fitness news, Arteta was asked about the fitness update on Thomas Partey,
“Well, he’s ahead of schedule that’s for sure. We wanted to have him in the squad if we needed to, the way the game panned out we had other necessities and we didn’t use him. He will be in the squad tomorrow.”
It was reported that Partey was going to return after the international break, so having him back in a match of this magnitude is a huge bonus. Partey being fit also gives him a chance to play alongside Declan Rice, which should be our preferred midfield double pivot, rather than pairing Rice with the likes of Kai Havertz or Fabio Vieira. The last time Arsenal played Manchester City in the Community Shield, Rice played with Partey, which offered Arsenal some stability in midfield, and with Manchester City going into this game without their defensive lynchpin, Rodri, this should be a part of the pitch Arsenal can take control. It’s just whether Partey is fully fit to start, which I highly doubt.
The next bit of information was on how Raya was settling in,
“Very good. Around the players, with his teammates, around the club, he knows London really well, he knows the way we play and he’s used to that and he knows the league, so he’s done exceptionally well.”
I guess at this point, there is no argument on who Arsenal’s undisputed #1 is. I touched on this goalkeeping issue a few weeks ago, but I read this amazing article by Tim Stillman on What Changed with Raya in Goal, and it’s fair to say that Arteta has finally gotten his man. We know he has hunted Raya since 2020 and in as much as I love me some Ramsdale, I love the quality we have in goal. Ramsdale showed his worth with a great performance in the narrow Carabao Cup win over Brentford, but Arsenal has been paired in a tough away clash with West Ham, so we will need Ramsdale to continue beasting. I don’t think he would feature in the Premier League again, and I hope he gets some Champions League minutes too.
Arteta was asked about Arsenal’s disgusting record against Manchester City,
“We aren’t looking back for sure because there were different players participating in those games, but we know one thing for certain, that we’re going to have to be at our best. We have to be at our best in every department for 100 minutes. Then we have a chance.”
Since defeating Manchester City in 2015, Arsenal has gone on a 12-game losing streak against the club, which is undoubtedly the club’s worst run against any opponent in modern times. In addition to the consistent defeats to Manchester City in the Premier League, Arsenal has been knocked out by the same club in the EFL Cup twice – once in the finals in 2018 and once in the quarterfinals that ended Runar Alex Runarsson’s career with us. Manchester City also got the better of Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round last season on their way to their unprecedented treble. If memory serves me right, Arteta’s only triumph against Manchester City came in the Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang inspired 2020 FA Cup semifinal win.
Tomorrow will have a real big game feel about it and I certainly hope that Arsenal stand up and be counted. If there’s any better time to end the rot – it is now.
Sayonara.
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