Woke up this morning buzzing for the City-Arsenal clash. Grabbed my phone while still in bed, opened my usual football apps – no official lineups yet. Figured managers Pep and Arteta were playing mind games. Scrolled through Twitter muttering “just announce it already”. Saw random accounts posting fake XIs, almost threw my phone.
Finally, at 1:30 PM local time, BBC Sport pinged. Spilled coffee rushing to check. Here’s what dropped:
Manchester City Setup (3-2-4-1)
- Ederson in goal obviously
- Stones – Dias – Akanji back three
- Rodri AND Kovacic holding?! Double pivot madness
- Foden wide right, Grealish left – like inverted wingers
- KDB and Silva floating behind Haaland
Scratched my head at Kovacic starting over Bernardo. Then remembered Pep always tweaks big games. Probably wants physicality against Arsenal’s young midfield.
Arsenal Setup (4-3-3)
- Raya keeping his spot
- White – Saliba – Gabriel – Zinchenko back four
- Odegaard as false eight with Rice sitting deep
- Jorginho surprise starter! Arteta matching City’s double pivot
- Saka – Havertz – Martinelli front three
Havertz at false nine made me chuckle. That experiment again? But Zinchenko overlapping against his old club – tasty subplot.
Predicted the chess match would be:
- City pressing Arsenal’s build-up, especially targeting Jorginho
- Arsenal trying to hit channels behind Stones when he steps up
- Both teams leaving fullbacks exposed to overload midfield
Watched first half chewing nails. Spot on about City hunting Jorginho – Kovacic kept nicking balls off him. Zinchenko getting roasted by Foden just like my notes said. Arteta subbed Trossard for Havertz at half-time, guess that false nine rubbish failed again.
Most satisfying moment? Rodri’s winner came exactly where I’d circled – edge of box when Arsenal midfield got pulled apart. Finished my match notes with cold pizza, thinking Pep’s lineup puzzles still make more sense than Arteta’s strange striker choices.
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