Arsenal will be trying to keep up the heat on Premier League leaders Liverpool with victory over Manchester City on Sunday afternoon
Danny Mills has told Arsenal that they have to beat Manchester City if they have any hope of becoming Premier League champions.
The Gunners halted a run of eight successive home defeats at the hands of the Blues when they beat City 1-0 at the Emirates last season – but they still finished second to Pep Guardiola’s men for the second season on the bounce. Now Liverpool are storming away in the title race and former City and England defender Mills believes nothing less than victory will devastate the London club’s hopes of winning their first Premier League in 22 years.
Mills said: “I expect it to be a really good game of football – and Arsenal have to win. In the Last couple of games against City, Arsenal have been quite defensive and have set up and thought ‘let’s not lose the game.’ There’s nothing wrong with that.
“That’s very good tactically and that’s good management from Mikel Arteta. But if they’re going to put pressure on Liverpool, they have to go and win the game, so they have to be a little bit more open, a little bit more expansive.
“You just don’t know what City are going to turn up at the moment. It could be an Ipswich 6-0 sort of style performance, or it could be a Paris Saint-Germain performance where they got out-played, out-run, out-scored, out-fought, and looked a shadow of themselves. I don’t think it’ll be 0-0, put it that way. Arsenal, if they’ve got any chance of catching Liverpool, have to win this.”
City needed a late John Stones goal to take a point from the Gunners in a 2-2 draw at the Etihad in September after the visitors had been reduced to 10 men just before half-time. Arsenal defender Gabriel waged a running battle with City striker Erling Haaland – and later warned the Norwegian that he would be “waiting for him” in the return.
Mills said: “Gabriel v Haaland is an interesting one because players do hold grudges. Ask the likes of Martin Keown. He probably held grudges for 25 years! It does happen. There is always a little bit of extra needle in those games where there’s a little bit of history.”
Danny Mills was speaking on behalf of 10bet.
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