Strongest Arsenal Team To Face Manchester City – Give Kallstrom A Start, Bench Arteta

Arsenal’s season is going from good to worse in a matter of two weeks. After an embarrassing defeat at Stamford bride, the Gunners also dropped points against Swansea at home. With Everton and Tottenham closing the gap on them, Arsenal cannot afford to drop more points in their top four chase. Now, Let’s have a look into all the options available for Wenger to field his strongest possible lineup against Manchester City at Emirates.

Goal Keeper And Defense

The Polish number one will start the game but he needs pull his socks off after performing very average in last few games. He will face the best attacking side in the league which includes the likes of Silva, Nasri, Dzeko, and Yaya Toure.

In defence, ever consistent Bacary Sagna should start from right while in-form Gibbs is expected to make his trademark overlapping runs from the left. Even though Gibbs is very good in attack, he should play conservatively in defense against City  as he will directly compete with pacey and tricky Jesus Navas. Mertesacker will leader the defense while Arsenal captain Thomas Vermaelen will replace injured Koscielny.

Midfield

Mikel Arteta has done a tremendous job for the gunners last season, but in this campaign, he lost his tidiness in the middle, losing possession many times and  he has been constantly criticized for his lack of defensive work rate which may prove very costly against big teams. For greater good, Wenger should take the risk and drop the Spaniard. Mathieu Flamini will play the DM role giving much needed cover to the center backs. Kim Kallstom who impressed during his 15 mins cameo against Swans, should partner Flamini in the pivot.

Tomas Rosicky or Ox can take his place at the right, while Santi Cazorla in the absence of Mesut Ozil will play as a no 10 behind Giroud. Lukas Podolski’s presence in the left will add more goal threat to the opponents.

Strikeforce:

Olivier Giroud will start as the lone striker up front leading the line against a disciplined Manchester city defense. The Frenchman is not as pacey or tricky as other top strikers in the league but he has his own plus points including the ability to hold the ball using his strength and providing crucial assist in the process. He, however needs to be in his best form against City or else the Gunners may find very difficult to get anything from the game.