"Now you have to go to City and you have to beat them. If you want to be champions you have to win those matches," Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta uttered ahead of tomorrow's Premier League title showdown against Manchester City.
"It’s as simple as that." Just three weeks ago Gunners supporters thought they would be able to afford a loss at the Etihad Stadium when doing the mental gymnastics of potential end-of-season points tallies as they looked at their remaining fixtures.
But three draws on the bounce have cost the north Londoners dearly in their quest to lift their first league title in 19 years whilst City have gone from strength to strength, winning each of their last six league outings. In fact, the reigning champions have lost just once at home in the league over the last 14 months.
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Arteta will be desperate to see that loss column double on Wednesday night and perhaps the Spaniard should take some tactical inspiration from Brentford manager Thomas Frank, who is the only coach other than City's Pep Guardiola to secure all three points at the Etihad Stadium this season. Back in November 2022, the Bees defeated the Citizens 2-1 thanks to an injury-time Ivan Toney winner.
But this wasn't a fluke. It wasn't the typical smash-and-grab where the away side scored from all of their shots on target. Quite the opposite. As Guardiola will test to, Brentford thoroughly deserved to win on the day.
Frank lined his side up in a 3-5-2 setup, registering just 25% possession but producing the lion's share of the clear-cut opportunities on the day. As per Understat, Brentford recorded 3.29 xG (expected goals) - more than double City could manage (1.6 xG) - an unprecedented feat considering Guardiola's teams are notorious for consistently creating more frequently than their opponents.
The west London outfit surrendered possession to the hosts, sitting in a deep 5-3-2 midblock when City had the ball, blocking off spaces in between the lines to force Guardiola's team out wide when attacking. They went man-to-man in the midfield press, restricting playmakers Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan from exploiting any vacated space.
When Brentford did retrieve the ball, they weren't afraid to commit men forward, with their wing-backs constantly running forward in support while both their strikers made themselves available for cutbacks in the box. Of course, it's unlikely that Arteta would sit this deep considering his side like to play on the front foot, but replicating this kind of shape is undoubtedly an option for the Spaniard.
Rob Holding has found it difficult to fill in for the injured William Saliba and a back three setup could allow Ben White, who typically operated as a right-back, to form a back three alongside Gabriel Magalhaes and Kieran Tierney, who was often deployed as a left-centre-back in a three during Arteta's first season as Arsenal boss.
Oleksandr Zinchenko would then be utilised as a left-wing-back, a role that would mask some of his defensive flaws whilst also allowing him to tuck into midfield as he so often favours when his side are in possession. The Gunners' typical midfield trio of Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey and Martin Odegaard could be supported by Bukayo Saka at right-wing-back.
Saka was used in this role previously during a win away to Chelsea a couple of season ago and the Hale End academy graduate is more than capable of tucking in when needed. That would leave Brazilian duo Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus upfront in what could prove to be a perfect blend of pace, trickery and deadly finishing, with the former netting 15 goals in the league this term.
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