Silvestre Earmarks Rice vs Rodri as defining player battle for Man City vs Arsenal

Premier League action is back this weekend and the Etihad will play host to a big one as Manchester City take on Arsenal. A win for the Citizens will help them leapfrog Arsenal while victory for the Gunners will help them stay up top and increase the gap with City to four points.

Five-time Premier League winner Mikael Silvestre talked to Devang Prasad about the game, commenting on the key player battles and also Arsenal’s mentality.

Arsenal a stronger and more confident side than last season

The Gunners’ title charge crashed at the Etihad last season when the treble winners inflicted a 4-1 defeat on Mikel Arteta’s men.

Silvestre says that compared to last season, this Arsenal side is more confident and looks ready. They know the level of City and were able to defeat them in the Community Shield and in the league at the Emirates in October:

The Frenchman adds that Arsenal have the ability to get three points at the Etihad.

“Arsenal knows the level of City. They’re still treble winners and they’re still a team capable of beating anybody and, especially everybody, I should say, in the Premier League.”

“But on the other side, Arsenal’s confidence has grown and the belief should be much higher than in past seasons. At this moment in time, we’re at the end of March and last season at the same time, the team wasn’t as confident and as strong as they are now.”

“So going there and facing City, I think if they can stick to their game plan and stick to their cards well, they can overcome City’s obstacles and win the game.”

The former Manchester United man adds that Arsenal will not be going to the Etihad for a draw but that would still be a result that plays in their favour.

“A win or a draw would be a good result. I think they are capable of doing it. If you look at the table and the points and what’s remaining after that, you want to avoid defeat.”

“Arsenal won’t be going there for a draw. If it happens to be a draw, fine. A draw or a win would be a good result.”

It won’t be a dull afternoon

The former French international is excited about the game and expects the teams to have a go at each other. He believes that it will be an intense and beautiful game that is guaranteed to entertain fans.

“I expect a beautiful game of football. Two teams that are getting to the top of their performances, day after day, game after game. It should be super exciting to watch that game.”

“It should be of the same intensity as the City-Liverpool game. It should be an excellent game of football.”

“Yeah, they will have a go at each other and it won’t be a dull afternoon.”

Rice-Rodri battle will be decisive

From a tactical standpoint, Silvestre sees the battle between Declan Rice and Rodri in the middle of the park as one of the decisive ones. In his opinion, whoever ends up performing better will give their team a stronger chance of winning the match.

“There are match winners on both sides but in terms of controlling the game, the battle in midfield between Rodri and Declan Rice is one of the key elements.”

“Whoever performs better will create a better chance for their team to win the game.”

Kyle Walker’s fitness is a cause for concern for Man City but Silvestre thinks that they have enough quality on their bench to cover for him, despite the Englishman having a tremendous season.

“This season Kyle Walker has been tremendous. He’s been a key part of the defence for City. So it’s a loss but they can readjust. They’ve got enough backup.”

“They’ve got a good bench and they can cope with Walker’s absence.”

Saliba and Gabriel can limit Håland’s effectiveness

Stopping the indomitable Erling Håland is one of the toughest prospects for any defensive unit. Arsenal’s CB duo of Gabriel Magalhães and William Saliba were able to keep the Norwegian at bay at the Emirates and Silvestre has given them his advice.

The former defender says that Håland can only be limited and the more important thing is to maintain focus throughout the 90 minutes as City don’t need much to create something out of nothing.

“It’s a good matchup and I think both defences can limit the effectiveness of Håland and Havertz or whoever is playing up front.”

“What’s important there is to stay cool and stay calm every time and keep your concentration for 90 minutes. The defensive technique, anticipation, the blocks, the clearance, they all have it at a high level. But it’s the seconds you lose your opponents, that’s where City can create opportunities out of nothing and that’s why Arsenal need to be fully focused for 90 minutes or more.”

“They’ve improved and learned from this. Handballs, needless penalties, creating dodgy situations for themselves. Hopefully they have learnt enough. They’ve had enough games behind them to be consistent.”

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How Does BETSiE View The Premier League Run-In? City not where you’d imagine

Our in-house predictive model, or ‘SuperComputer’ as she is sometimes coined by those unfamiliar, has had a go at predicting how the Premier League table will finish. BETSiE uses underlying metrics, fixture difficulty, and more to conjure her projections.

If you’re interested in seeing more of BETSiE’s work, visit BETSiE’s Analysis Pages here.

Position	Club	Games	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Points
1	Arsenal	38	26.8	5.9	5.3	91.3	31.5	59.7	86.2
2	Liverpool	38	25.7	8.7	3.6	89.3	36.6	52.7	85.8
3	Manchester City	38	25.2	8.0	4.8	84.7	38.1	46.6	83.6
4	Aston Villa	38	20.5	6.2	11.3	73.7	57.6	16.1	67.8
5	Tottenham	38	19.8	7.0	11.2	76.8	61.2	15.6	66.4
6	Manchester Utd	38	18.2	4.1	15.7	53.7	57.7	-4.0	58.6
7	Chelsea	38	16.1	8.2	13.7	68.3	62.6	5.7	56.5
8	Newcastle	38	16.3	6.1	15.6	78.7	65.9	12.8	55.0
9	Brighton	38	14.3	11.4	12.3	63.5	59.7	3.8	54.4
10	West Ham	38	15.0	9.2	13.8	58.9	67.8	-8.9	54.1

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