Arsenal v Man City - The Preview

I haven't had time to do a preview so Courtesy of Arsenal.com here is Richard Clarke's preview of today's game.

Arsène Wenger has paid tribute to Sven-Goran Eriksson’s survival instincts ahead of Manchester City’s trip to Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

The Swede was left battered and bruised by his five years in charge of England so eyebrows were raised after he took over at Eastlands in the summer. Most expected that resilience would be needed early in the campaign as Eriksson’s numerous new arrivals attempted to pull the Citizens away from their perennial flirtation with the Premier League drop zone.

However, in the words of Wenger, Manchester City have ‘super-clicked, super-quickly’. They arrive in North London as League leaders and only the 11th team in the history of the English top-flight to win their first three games without conceding a goal.

“When you buy more than three players I feel you take a technical risk to destabilise the unity,” said the Arsenal manager at his pre-match press conference on Thursday. “It can take six months to click. But they have super clicked, super quickly. They are top of the league with three wins from three games. You cannot do better than that. It could last, it could not but we will know after a few more games.”

Saturday’s match will mean Eriksson has managed five different teams against Arsenal during his career — Gothenburg, Sampdoria, Lazio, Benfica and Manchester City — surely some kind of record.

“There is no secret there,” said Wenger. “Those who survive are the good ones. Consistency is always linked with quality.
“Maybe he wants to show people how good he is. For me, he is a very good manager and his record with England was very good.

Arsenal have Jens Lehmann sidelined for at least two weeks with an Achilles injury so Manuel Almunia takes the keeper’s gloves. William Gallas is out with a groin problem picked up at Blackburn last weekend so Kolo Toure takes the captaincy. Emmanuel Eboue (ankle) is still absent but Gilberto (fatigue) and Emmanuel Adebayor (groin) are available for the first time this season.

The Manchester City side is a shadow of last term’s version. In the summer the following players went out: Joey Barton (Newcastle); Sylvain Distin (Portsmouth); Nicky Weaver (Charlton); Trevor Sinclair (released), Stephen Jordan (released) and Hatem Trabelsi (released). While these came in: Rolando Bianchi (Reggina), Gelson Fernandes (FC Sion), Geovanni (Cruzeiro), Elano (Shakhtar Donetsk), Javi Garrido (Real Socidedad), Vedran Corluka (Dinamo Zagreb) and Valeri Bojinov (Fiorentina).

The arrivals were unknowns to most but not Wenger. "I knew all the ones who came in,” he said. “Corluka, Elano and Petrov are all good talents in my opinion. And yes they did very well but don't forget the players that have done extremely well this season are Michael Johnson, Micah Richards and Richard Dunne. They've been outstanding. Of course you talk about the players they bought but these three players were outstanding on the reports I got.”
Of those three, Richards is the one who had caught Wenger’s eye. “He can be a great player,” he said. I'm convinced of that when you look at how he plays at his age. He has no inhibitions and such power too. Certainly he has the potential.”

Despite having moved on from the national side, the emergance of Richards and Johnson this season could well mean Eriksson's spell in this country still leaves a positive legacy for English football.

My Prediction: 2-1 Arsenal, Ade to get back on the score sheet with a brace.

C'MON YOU GUNNERS!