Why Man City's 'leg-beaters' can make the difference against Arsenal

In football, the crown sometimes lies heavy on the team who carries it. At the moment, that seems to be the case with the Gunners, but make no mistake City would be desperately up for taking over their hold on the title. Given their recent success, they would be very comfortable as front-runners.

Mikel Arteta has won only one major trophy since taking charge of Arsenal in December 2019, the 2020 FA Cup. Since his arrival at City in the summer of 2016, Guardiola has won six Premier League titles, one Champions League, two FA Cups and five Carabao Cups [Getty Images]

'City are frightening teams again'

Pep won't ever change his way of playing possession football, but what has come back in vogue at City in recent weeks is their players in wide positions, what I always called 'leg-beaters'.

By that, I mean the kind of fast and skilful players who continuously work the opposition defenders for 90 minutes by running at them, or past them. They give you the quality you need to take people out of the game and break the opposition down.

In the past, Riyad Mahrez was always such a great outlet to provide that for Pep's City teams but now they have two fantastic players in those positions, which I believe has changed their fortunes.

With Semenyo and Jeremy Doku in the team, alongside Rayan Cherki, who also has the ability to take opponents out of games, City are frightening teams again.

They have always been possession-based under Pep but, if it was my team facing them then the last thing I would want is to have those three in possession and high up the pitch, instead of the goalkeeper and the two centre-halves on the ball.

I believe this is where City will try to expose Arsenal. All three players are such a threat once they get one on one in wide areas, and whoever plays full-back for the Gunners will need to bring their 'A game' with them.

City signed Semenyo from Bournemouth for £65m in January. The 26-year-old Ghana international has scored eight goals in 19 games in all competitions for his new side, including five in 10 starts in the Premier League [Getty Images]

Semenyo is such a game-changer because he does not just bring power and pace and the ability to beat players in those one-on-one situations, he is a goal threat too.

Whether it is him or Cherki on the right side, or Doku on the left, one thing is for sure - they are all capable of being match-winners for City on Sunday.

Because of that, I think City should get the ball to them as quickly as possible, because passes to their front players will help them find those one-on-one situations.

If, instead, City are slow when they get out then Arsenal will drop deep and make it really hard for them to expose the spaces that those three players need.

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How do both teams prepare for such a big game?

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It is Arsenal who hold the six-point lead and marginal advantage in goal difference going into Sunday's game.

If, at the start of the season, you had offered this position to Arteta and all Arsenal supporters with six games to go, then they would have snapped your fingers off.

The issue they have is that they are on their worst run of results of the season but, despite that, the double of Premier League and Champions League is still on.

They have played only one more game than City so far this season - 54 in all competitions compared to 53 - but also have more injuries to contend with.

Key players like Bukayo Saka and Declan Rice have missed games recently and, while they strengthened their squad depth significantly in the summer, they did not add any players in January who might have made a difference now.

City, in contrast, had their title hopes written off months ago but, since that recruitment in January, have improved week in, week out - culminating in winning the first major trophy of the season when they beat Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final last month.

If their form continues, they could add the league title and the FA Cup to their trophy haul. What a treble that would be.

The stats show that this is the time of the season when, historically, Pep's City are strongest and Arteta's Arsenal are weakest - in terms of win percentage, April has been City's best month since Pep took charge in the summer of 2016, and Arsenal's worst under Arteta from the 2019-20 season onwards.

Still, the outcome of Sunday's game is pretty simple really. If Arsenal win, I believe the title is theirs. If City win, then momentum swings full circle and they would become outright favourites to collect another title under Pep.

I'd say a draw suits Arsenal more, but does not automatically finish the title race off.

So, how do both teams prepare for such a big game?

City have the home advantage and also have had a week's rest because they were knocked out of the Champions League in the last 16 by Real Madrid.

Arsenal face an away fixture and a shorter space of time for their players to recover after playing Sporting on Wednesday, but getting through that tie was really important for them, and will give them a boost in confidence that they can take into the City game.

Both managers know each other inside out, and both sets of players will be fully aware of the challenge they face - so, on paper, you would think there are going to be few surprises for either team.

This is why Pep and Mikel are paid the big bucks, however, as managers of our very best clubs.

They will both be really busy this week on certain tactical issues - basically what they want their team to do, and how they will stop the opposition.

'Arsenal have the quality to play under pressure'

If both teams decide the best way of winning the game is to build up from their goalkeepers, I would personally go after them high up the pitch and do my best to break their rhythm and passing patterns.

It's a risk, because both teams have defenders who play comfortably under pressure and will, on occasions, break through even the best press.

But, while it's high risk, it's also high reward. Over the past five seasons, more goals have been conceded by turnovers in possession in a team's own half than ever before.

City will dominate possession despite that high press and will spend a lot of time in Arsenal's final third. So, with the Gunners pressed back, how do they then counter-attack with sufficient quality to hurt City?

When City are in possession, they push everyone forward but leave only two centre-backs covering their whole back line of defence.

Rodri will sweep in front of Abdukodir Khusanov and Guehi, but there are spaces to be found either out wide or behind the two centre-backs - and those are the areas in open play that Arsenal have to exploit.

To achieve that in an effective way, when Arsenal regain possession in deep areas, they must get passes and runners past the City back-line, by playing up, back and through.

It sounds easy, but City will try to regain the turnover quickly and both of their centre-halves are quick even if Arsenal can manufacture a foot race.

Mikel's side are capable of doing this effectively, though. We know they have the quality to play under pressure and they will need it on Sunday if they are to be successful.

On top of all this, set-plays will again be vital for them, but also for City. As ever, the quality of the corners, free-kicks and throw-ins must be matched by the desire to win that first and second ball - and that applies to whoever is attacking and defending.

Arsenal fans displayed a Tifo banner which proclaimed 'history in our sights' before Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final against Sporting - this season they are trying to become champions of Europe for the first time, and hoping for their first Premier League title since 2004 [Getty Images]

Who do you think is best?

I've been asked to name the teams I've watched and faced who I have admired the most during my years in the game, and to try to compare them with today's top sides, Arsenal and City.

I can't decide on the best team I've seen or managed against, but there are a few that stand out - some going back to when I was a boy, but also others more recently that I came up against.

Growing up, I will always remember Don Revie's Leeds United team of the 1960s and 1970s, plus Manchester United in the years when Sir Matt Busby was in charge. It was the same again for many years under Sir Alex Ferguson, when they were the team to beat.

Liverpool's teams of the 1980s were so successful, home and abroad, and the Chelsea teams under Jose Mourinho and their other famous managers who followed him.

Arsenal in the early 1970s and also their 'Invincibles' in 2003-04 have to be mentioned and so do the Manchester City teams over the past decade.

I don't feel the current Arsenal and City teams are quite up there just yet, but from what we've seen so far, they soon could be.

What do you think though? Whoever you support, I'd like to know who you would put up as the best team you've seen at your own club, or anywhere else, and how Arsenal and City compare.

Tony Pulis was speaking to BBC Sport's Chris Bevan.