Sol Campbell has made a confident prediction ahead of Sunday’s blockbuster Premier League clash between Arsenal and Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola’s side have made an inauspicious start to the new campaign with back to back defeats against Brighton and Tottenham heightening the suggestion that Pep Guardiola’s latest rebuild is a work in progress.
City did roar back to form last weekend, putting Manchester United to the sword in the derby in ruthless, Erling Haaland-inspired fashion.
Guardiola’s side will be hoping to gain a measure of revenge,not to mention momentum in the title race, after last season’s painful 5-1 defeat at the Emirates.
Arsenal are likely to field a much changed line-up just seven months on from that memorable win following a huge summer spending spree.
Get personalised updates on Arsenal everyday
Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro’s Football Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we’ll send you so we can get football news tailored to you.
The likes of Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres and Eberechi Eze have already made positive early impressions at their new club and with four wins from five games so far Arsenal can feel justifiably confident of victory, according to Campbell.
He told Paddy Power,: ‘I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be a 2-1 Arsenal win. I think they’ve got the bit between the teeth.
‘Hopefully they’ve learned from Liverpool and just find that balance between defence and that gamble in attack.
‘You need to trust the defence a little bit. You can’t have everyone back. You need the risk and reward. You need to find that balance. Maybe you can be a bit more conservative away from home, but finding that balance is key.’
With William Saliba returning to fitness, Arteta faces a selection headache given the form of another new recruit, Cristhian Mosquera, who has excelled at the heart of Arsenal’s defence in the France international’s absence.
Whoever starts faces the unenviable task of attempting to tame Haaland who has made a typically prolific start to the new campaign.
‘It’s all about making sure you reduce the space, reduce and cover the space behind. If you’ve got him running and the ball slipped down the sides, you don’t really want that,’ Campbell said when asked how he would deal with marking Haaland.
‘You want to cut him off. Even if you don’t cut it off at source, but you cut the wrong and the pass. That’s it. If you have him in front of you, make sure he’s not lurking in the back post when there’s crosses and things like that.
Just cover, just be clever.
‘Cover the key areas he operates in and that he likes to attack. I think once you do that, once you make sure those balls down the line are not slipped down for him to gallop, it is more controllable.
‘You want to keep him in front of you, control that zone he wants to be in. As long as you do the right things and don’t try to be too clever with the off-side trap, you have a chance.
‘And if he makes a run, go with the run. As soon as you switch off and that green ocean behind you is vacant, you are in trouble. Sometimes he gets into those positions too easy. That’s how he got one of his goals against Man United last weekend.’
