Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta faces real headache ahead of the match against Man City as he must decide whether to stick with Jorginho or not, according to Paul Merson.
The Gunners have made a good start to the new Premier League season but they are still two points behind the Citizens, who have a perfect four wins from four matches so far this term under Pep Guardiola.
dropped two points at home to Brighton before the international break but they bounced back from that draw by in the North London derby last weekend at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
After finishing first and second in the Premier League last season, runners-up to face defending champions Man City in a crucial early-season clash.
And now Arsenal legend Merson has previewed the fixture ahead of the key Premier League match.
Merson said: If Arsenal had lost or dropped points against Tottenham last week, this could ve been a must-win game for them. But now this is just a game they must not lose and there s a difference in that.
Arsenal defended well in the derby win over Spurs and it was similar to Inter in their draw in the Champions League opener against Manchester City. But even when Inter were so brilliant at the back, City still carved out chances throughout the game.
No matter how suffocated they get, City always end up creating chances. Tottenham don t have this quality and hence, Arsenal have a bigger challenge this weekend. They have to be switched on for more than 90 minutes to get a result. It s also important for Arsenal to try and trouble City on the counter. They just can t let their opponents come at them again and again, if that happens they ll get found out.
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It won t be as comfortable as the game against Tottenham. I have a strong feeling Jorginho will play this game despite Declan Rice returning from his suspension. With Kai Havertz in midfield the other day, it really helped both Thomas Partey and Jorginho. One thing Jorginho does really well is, he keeps the ball. During the 1-0 win at Emirates last season, City could not touch him, he was just too good.
It s a real headache for Arteta now. He must decide whether he should play Jorginho or not. A quick word on William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes as well, they are the best centre-back pair in the league. But I feel sometimes the work that happens in front of them goes unnoticed. Partey and Rice are both very disciplined and provide a lot of cover to the centre-backs. I like John Stones and Ruben Dias together, but they don t play with each other consistently enough like the Arsenal duo.
