Sergio Agüero and Alexis Sánchez seem to be doing the brunt of the work, but both City and Arsenal need their strikers free from injury if they are to keep climbing the table.
Agüero and Sánchez set to start tomorrow Photograph: Graphic: Sky Sports |
Another
game, another goal. This has been the recurring theme for Agüero and Sánchez
for weeks now, as both forwards have picked up the slack left by the
incompetence or injury of their teammates. The expectations of Man City and Arsenal
at the beginning of the season have been upheld only through the ruthless brilliance
of the two danger men from South America, and both teams need them fit and
firing now more than ever. The fact that Arsenal and Man City’s squads are
plagued with injury, combined with Chelsea’s unstoppable form and the demanding
Christmas schedule, means that neither side can afford an injury to their top
goal scorer if they are to realistically challenge for the title.
Even at this
point, only a third of the way through the season, if it were not for the 19
goals of Agüero, City would be all but out of their Champions League group and worryingly
far from Chelsea in the table. Take away Sánchez’s total of 13 goals and Arsenal
would be tussling with the likes of Aston Villa and Everton for a place in the
top half of the table. Not only this, but Wenger would be facing a bona fide
coup rather than a relatively mild banner of discontent seen in the stands.
The reason
why both teams have consistently struggled this year is the same reason why
both teams cannot afford Agüero or Sánchez to suffer a dip in form or, worse
still, an injury. The lack of form or fitness of many key players has resulted
in both the South Americans often carrying their teams to victory. Although
Everton and Stoke City will be keeping an eye on the two deadly forwards
tomorrow, when City welcome the Toffees and Arsenal visit the Britannia
Stadium, best believe Pellegrini and Wenger will be too, albeit for different
reasons.
Agüero and Sánchez have been impressively consistent this season. Photograph: Squawka |
Agüero’s hat-trick against Bayern Munich ten
days ago seems to have reinvigorated City. Having scored 10 goals in their last
3 matches, half of which have come from the little Argentinian, Man City appear
more confident on the pitch. Their most recent performance in the Premier
League, against Sunderland midweek, was their most convincing of the season.
Unsurprisingly, Agüero hammered in two in that match, which now makes it 14
goals in 14 Premier League games this season for him. However, both he and Man
City must err on side of caution due to the number of injuries in the side and
the heavy winter schedule underway. With Yaya Touré unfit for tomorrow’s clash
with Everton, and David Silva, Stevan Jovetic and Vincent Kompany still out
through injury, City once again will be looking to their deadly front man for
inspiration. Pellegrini must be careful of overusing Agüero though. The striker
will face an Everton side determined to bounce back from their disappointing
defeat against Hull City and, by this time tomorrow, he will have already
played 20 matches in all competitions this season. If City are to stay within
reach of Chelsea, Agüero needs to stay fit and on form. Samir Nasri’s
impressive performances of late should help lighten the attacking load, whilst City’s
medical staff and physios will be doing their upmost to keep Agüero off the
injury table. City will also need their makeshift centre back pairing to
perform too, as Dedryck Boyata and Martín Demichelis at times struggled against
Hull’s attack. With the prospect of battling against in-form Romelu Lukaku, it
will be interesting to see whether Pellegrini opts for Eliaquim Mangala, Boyata
or even Bacary Sagna to partner Demichelis at centre-half.
Provided Agüero does not sustain an injury
against Everton, he will most certainly start in City’s must-win game against
Roma on Wednesday too. Even though Kompany may be in the squad and Touré will
have gained some fitness in time for their trip to Rome, City face another challenging
game that requires Agüero to lead the charge yet again. If City intend to hold on to second spot in the
table and be in the pot for the last 16 of the Champions League, he must continue to find the net.
Arsenal’s
story reads akin to that of City’s this season, as they have been reliant on their own prolific pint-sized forward. With Chelsea seemingly
out of reach now, Arsenal remain optimistic of finishing in their usual top
four spot this year thanks to the heroics of Alexis Sánchez. Like City, Arsenal’s
most recent win in Europe against Borussia Dortmund at home looks to have
reinstalled some much-needed belief in the Gunners’ dressing room. Since then,
Arsenal have recorded 3 clean sheets in as many matches (helped by the
reintroduction of Laurent Koscielny at centre back) and Sánchez has added
another goal to his already impressive tally of 13 for the season.
Arsenal,
similar to Man City once more, have suffered many injuries, and have been saved
time and again by their Chilean workhorse. Not only have they encountered
problems in defence (at times fielding Nacho Monreal and Calum Chambers at
centre-back) but also in the attacking third. Mikel Arteta, Aaron Ramsey, Jack
Wilshere, Mesut Özil, Olivier Giroud, and Theo Walcott have all been out injured
at some point this year. Though the absence of all these players may seem to
allow Sánchez to shine, the lack of playmaking talent such as Özil only goes to
emphasise his truly incredible and vital form this season. If his work rate or
goals were not impressive enough, the fact that Sánchez has been directly
involved in 50% of all of Arsenal’s goals this season should underline his
importance to the London side.
His
attacking prowess will be firmly tested tomorrow against a physically imposing
Stoke City though. As Wenger still expects a finish of at least 4th
at the end of the season, and having witnessed the injuries that come from a
clash against Stoke, Wenger will hope his main man will help his side to
victory whilst steering clear of any potentially risky challenges. What’s more,
this game comes only a few days after Wenger declared his caution over
Sanchez’s fitness, saying that “he is in the red zone” and with supreme
athletes like Sánchez “you never know how far you can push it”. Sanchez has already
played 27 games this season and, considering Arsenal’s injury record, Wenger
must keep him wrapped in cotton wool if Arsenal are to achieve this season’s
aims.
Even though
City and Arsenal are glad to see Agüero and Sánchez doing so well, they need them
to stay fit and would like some more contribution from rest of the team. The
underwhelming season so far from key players last year like Touré and Ramsey have
undoubtedly contributed to the reliance on Agüero and Sánchez’s superhuman
efforts. It is hard to imagine, though, that the front-runners for player of the
year are not enjoying their run of form. Although City and Arsenal would prefer
to not so heavily rely on both players, Agüero and Sánchez would not have it any
other way.