This article is part of our Match of the Week series.
Sunday's massive tilt between Manchester City and Arsenal was supposed to be an exhilarating contest, instead, we had to watch 90 minutes of low-intensity football, resulting in a scoreless draw. Mikel Arteta comes from the backroom staff of Pep Guardiola and it appears the two entirely neutralized eachother. The title race now sits in the hands of Liverpool, who have no room for error, with Arsenal only two points behind and City just one point behind the Gunners.
Starting XIs
Arsenal went unchanged with the 4-3-3, while City retired the 3-2-4-1 for a match and instead went with a 4-1-4-1 they used on a couple of occasions earlier in the season.
Arsenal made only a singular change from the squad they took into battle against Porto in the second leg of their UCL tie, with Gabriel Jesus coming in for Leandro Trossard on the left flank.
Manchester City made two changes, Kyle Walker was replaced by Nathan Ake after Walker went down with England over the international break. Kevin De Bruyne was also brought back into the starting XI after sitting out the FA Cup match against Newcastle due to a groin issue.
Match Facts
As exciting as this match was expected to be it didn't live up to the hype, with both teams looking too stubborn to change the tactics they had set up ahead of the match. City stuck to their guns and kept their possession-based pressing strategies, while Arsenal sat back and defended, striving for the clean sheet.
Arsenal came in with clear intentions to slow the game at any chance, focusing on defending and keeping numbers in the back instead of pushing for goals when they won the ball. This worked perfectly, as they were the first team to hold City to zero goals at home in 57 matches.
It started in the first couple of minutes, as the back four of Arsenal immediately dropped back, holding a sturdy block between midfield and their 18-yard box, looking to create a high line and not allowing City to get an early goal off a long ball. From there, the Gunners abandoned the heavy press we are used to seeing from an Arteta side, keeping the same defensive 4-4-2 but dropping the two forwards into the midfield to outnumber the City attack, leaving no pressure on the center-backs. They were okay with City's possession but did not want them to work towards the goal, dropping all 10 outfield players into their half when defending, holding the Citizens to one big chance created and four shots in the first half.
Arteta followed suit to Jurgen Klopp's tactics against City just three weeks ago, keeping his full-backs much more centered and forcing City to work the ball in from out wide while loading the box and keeping the formation skinny. The primary key to this was how they dealt with the explosiveness of Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva, as they were stubbornly man-marked by Ben White and Jakub Kiwior when on the attack, leaving the two full-backs of City to make overlapping runs and provide more in the attack than initially thought of. This would almost completely shut down Foden and Silva, who play an enormous role in Guardiola's strategies, as they only managed one shot and three chances created combined while going 50-percent in their 22 duals.
Possibly the biggest factor in the game was Gabriel and William Saliba's ability to completely stall Erling Haaland's involvement as they sat on each side of the towering Norwegian, keeping him captive in a cluster of red and white shirts. They would end up holding the forward to a minimal set of touches while making sure zero of his four shots found the target, and limiting him to just seven touches in the box.
The Gunner's attack was very one-dimensional, as their central focus was on defending, using only the speed of their attackers to break on the counter when catching City a little too far in the opposing half. This would lead to minimal opportunities, as they would manage zero big chances, although they did still find some efforts at goal, notching six shots. Their flaws could be due to the inability of Bukayo Saka to get much going Sunday, as the wingers were forced to lead the attack, with forward Kai Havertz usually caught in the midfield due to the defensive setup they provided. Saka would finish with zero shots, zero chances created, one touch in the opposing box and a minimal 14 passes in the draw.
The few times they were able to use a conventional setup, they seemed to focus on attacking the wings with their full-backs, as Foden and Silva would not track back for City, leaving their full-backs exposed when the likes of Saka and White or Jesus and Kiwior both attacking down one flank, always leaving space open on the side of the field.
City barely had to defend and were on the front foot for much of the match. However, they never shaped out too many opportunities, keeping possession a top priority with scoring looking to come second, as they risked no chances on the ball unless within the box.
It was the basic setup we are used to from the Citizens, holding the ball in the opposing half when pressing whenever they lost possession. The full-backs were rarely found in the defense, instead acting more as additional midfielders to create open passes and movement, with De Bruyne then moving up forward to sit right behind the front three. Then, the two center-backs awaited at midfield.
They started the match trying a few through balls here and there, but as soon as Arsenal implied they were sitting back, City abandoned that and took advantage of the space in Arsenal's half.
However, City was not offered much space, as the overload in the midfield they use as the main point of their attack was defused by Arsenal's numbers in the midfield having the numerical advantage, forcing City to change things to more of a wing-based attack. They would do well to counter this by switching the ball to the other side of the field and finding the full-back that had moved into the midfield when feeling the overload, although the Gunners man-marking on the wingers made it difficult for City, as Josko Gvardiol and Manuel Akanji, who later be moved to the center with Rico Lewis taking his place, were forced to be the recipient of the pass out wide, leaving the ball outside of their playmaker's feet.
Outside of that, much of their game was played right near the midfield line, just passing the ball around with no opportunities to move forward for most of the match despite holding 73 percent possession. When they did find space to move forward, they had problems moving into the box or getting anything flowing, as Arsenal was doing anything to slow the play, committing 20 fouls in the match while completely smothering the front four of City.
As for defending, City used their possession as their defense Sunday. The few times they had to defend, they would shift to their typical defensive 4-4-2, using high-press to create chaos among the opposing team players, possibly being the reason for Arsenal barely stringing more than five passes together. However, that may have been due to their sporadic counterattacks and deep defensive line.
Outside of that, most of Arsenal's attack was killed off by the two center-backs waiting at midfield, as the Gunners finished the game with zero big chances and six shots while notching a low 191 passes completed in their 28-percent possession.
Moving into the rest of the game, there was little that changed, as Arsenal stuck with the park the bus tactic that seemingly caused headaches for City. However, once Pep made his first substitutions of the second half, we would see some differences in his intent.
In the 61st minute, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish would enter the field for Foden and Mateo Kovacic. This looked to be Guardiola's counter to Arsenal's man-marking on the City wingers, as he would change the attacking formation, making it slightly more aggressive, appearing to know that Arsenal was not going to try to score for the rest of the match.
The formation change would come with Gvardiol, Akanji and Ruben Dias forming a back three when attacking, with two being allowed further up the field when on the ball while making sure they were still sturdy if needing to get back to defend. They would then leave Rodri, Lewis and Silva in the midfield. This left Silva in more of a free-flowing role, almost playing with no position, and used to give another attacker to help Grealish and Doku, who were being man-marked, giving the club another option for a playmaker on the wing when the others were smothered. However, this would still lead to no better opportunities, as Saliba and Gabriel did well not allowing balls in the box, leading to a boring final 30 minutes and a 0-0 draw.
This match was ultimately uneventful, giving no entertainment for the neutrals and honestly leaving many Arsenal and City fans disappointed. In the end, Arsenal got what they wanted by holding City scoreless, while City stayed frustrated, controlling the ball but never finding any crucial opportunities. The final stat lines would end with City dominating, as they held 72 percent possession while notching 12 shots, two big chances and 1.02 xG, compared to Arsenal's six, zero and 0.66, respectively. However, when watching the game, it was much more even, with both teams looking equal, possibly giving a slight edge to City.
Man on the Match
Gabriel gets the award this week purely for how he dealt with Erling Haaland. He kept the Norwegian in check pretty much the whole game as the primary defender of the player, making sure he was always by his side and never had the first step while eliminating the aerial game. However, Gabriel couldn't have done it without Saliba, as he also played a massive part in minimizing the forward's effect on the contest. Gabriel finished with one tackle, an interception, two recoveries and four clearances, which was not the most spectacular stat line, but his play on the field showed just how crucial he was.
Upcoming Fixtures
Arsneal's road ahead gets quite busy, as they have two UCL quarterfinal matches against Bayern Munich sprinkled into their upcoming schedule, giving them eight matches over the next month. They will start with Luton on Wednesday and then Brighton on Saturday, moving into a three-match stretch that could be challenging if the opposition is at their best, facing Aston Villa, Wolves and Chelsea next.
City has a similarly busy adventure ahead, as they play nine matches over the month, also having UCL matches, as they face Real Madrid in the competition while also facing Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinals. However, for their next five league matches, they begin with Aston Villa on Wednesday and then Crystal Palace on Saturday, ending off with Luton Town, Tottenham and Brighton.
Looking ahead
The two clubs will now head into the rest of the season chasing Liverpool, as it will be a race of who can stay perfect the longest, with Arsenal and City being two and three points off the Reds, respectively. Neither team can have any slip-ups, although that may be very difficult with the grueling schedules they have on the horizon. Only time can tell what will happen for these two teams, as they will have to wait on a Liverpool loss or draw before they can get too eager about pushing for the title.
Gameweek 31 & 32 Preview
With two matches for each club this week, we are in for an exciting stretch of football, topped off by two more Match of the Week articles. First, we will keep an eye on the contest between the two more disappointing clubs this season, as Manchester United and Chelsea face off Thursday. Then we are in for a mid-table matchup for the weekend, with West Ham and Wolves meeting, being separated by just three points at the moment.
