Arsenal Vs Manchester City

The first matchday of the English Premier League season saw an intriguing match with the champions Manchester City travelling to the Emirates to face a much-changed Arsenal side under new management for the first time in 22 years. With the Spaniard Unai Emery now in place as head coach of Arsenal, there was a sense of anticipation as fans looked to see what the new-look side would look like in terms of playing style.

There was a contrast between the two sides in terms of their summer recruitment as well with Manchester City having only signed the Algerian wide player Riyad Mahrez from Leicester City. Arsenal, on the other hand, had moved to significantly strengthen both their midfield and defence with the likes of Lucas Torreira and Sokratis in particular signed to provide an element of steel to the Arsenal spine.

Despite the lack of new arrivals for Manchester City this off-season, there is still a great deal of excitement around the club after their record-breaking season last time around. This is also the third season in charge for Spanish coach Pep Guardiola, he spent three seasons at Bayern Munich prior to joining City and it was in the third and final season in Germany that we saw his team play at their absolute peak with his ideas and tactical ideology firmly in place. If that cycle repeats itself at City, then we are in for an incredible season of football.

Team News

The team news was interesting in that of the summer arrivals at Arsenal only Sokratis and the French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi played from the start with the young midfielder being preferred to the Uruguayan international Lucas Torreira, it is likely that when the Uruguayan is fully fit, he will start in the Arsenal midfield. At left-back, Emery also gave a chance to the young academy prospect Ainsley Maitland-Niles.

Riyad Mahrez did start the match on the right for Manchester City with England star Raheem Sterling on the left and the German international Leroy Sane consigned to a place on the bench.