Hassan Chamas

What: English Premier League
Who: Manchester City (4th) vs. Arsenal (6th)
When: Saturday, 12th September, 2009, at 15:00 UK Time
Where: City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester


News boys on the block

With three wins out of a possible three matches for Manchester City, The Citizens are well on their way to introducing a new Premier League order. Perhaps their wins were rather shy, especially since they all came against relatively mid-table teams, but with a side harbouring Emmanuel Adebayor, Robinho, Carlos Tevez et al., you can’t but wonder just how this team won’t devour everything standing in their way. After the recent transfer market ban placed on Chelsea, England’s richest team are – not too surprisingly – many people’s favourites to clinch the 2010/11 trophy. But why wait until next year? If Mark Hughes’ squad continue their solid start to the campaign, there’s no reason they should fear anyone, especially certain cross-town rivals.

Gutted Gunners

League leaders from the very first game, then into the second, and fifth by the third. And the same old thing happens to Arsenal all over again: Sound start, poor continuation. Gunners fans lived the dream when Andrei Arshavin’s screamer just crucified Manchester United’s Ben Foster, but five minutes was all it took for Wayne Rooney – with some help from Abou Diaby – to turn comfort into catastrophe for Arsene Wenger’s boys, with the manager gaining his share of the tussle after receiving a red card following his rage at Robin van Persie’s disallowed goal. However, that won’t turn out to be pivotal after League Managers Association chief Richard Bevan labelled the referee’s verdict as “completely out of context in the game”. The Professor will most likely therefore be present in the dugout at Eastlands.


Recent form

Manchester City:
Crystal Palace 0-2 Manchester City (Carling Cup)
Manchester City 1-0 Wolverhampton (Premier League)
Portsmouth 0-1 Manchester City (Premier League)

Arsenal:
Arsenal 4-1 Portsmouth (Premier League)
Arsenal 3-1 Celtic (Champions League)
Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal (Premier League)


Players to watch

Manchester City – Emmanuel Adebayor: The Togolese hit-man appears to be on standby to spearhead the Mancunians attack once again, especially in the light of recent knocks endured by Carlos Tevez and Robinho, both of whom were injured in the Argentina-Brazil clash last weekend. The former Arsenal striker has scored in every league fixture so far, and when he sets out to face his old team once again, he will be eager to get his name on the score-sheet.

Arsenal – Andrei Arshavin: The Russian locomotive imposed himself as an integral part of Arsenal’s plans for this season as he took the bull by the horns against Manchester United. Alongside captain Cesc Fabregas, expect him to be at the core of things for the Gunners in this key clash.


Match Prediction

The defeat to Manchester United – especially after Arshavin’s opener – might have flushed morale down the drain back at the Grove. Arsenal still don’t have it in them to be considered title winning material just yet, as former skipper Tony Adams famously declared earlier this week. Manchester City will be eager to continue their good form against their opponents from the south, and their potential absentees won’t prevent the match ending 2-0 in their favour.

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