Adrian Clarke believes Manchester City have a glaring weakness that one Arsenal player can exploit on Sunday.
Arsenal beat Athletic Club on Tuesday evening, which has helped keep the mood music around N5 positive heading into the clash with City.
The atmosphere at the Emirates had been somewhat downbeat over the summer and this continued into the start of the campaign after a disappointing pre-season and a poor performance away at Manchester United.
However, the signing of Eberechi Eze has seemingly changed the feeling around Arsenal, with the uplift in morale reflected in recent results and the confidence Gunners supporters appear to have about facing Pep Guardiola’s team.
Adrian Clarke says Riccardo Calafiori can exploit Bernardo Silva weakness in Arsenal vs Man City
City have a number of weaknesses that Arsenal can exploit.
Guardiola’s side are physically vulnerable in midfield, while they are often exposed in transition against teams that have quick attacking players.
This makes the Gunners well-suited to taking City on, as they have a powerful midfield and now have pacy forwards with Viktor Gyokeres and Noni Madueke.
However, former Arsenal player and now pundit Adrian Clarke has highlighted a different deficiency in City’s game, which he believes Mikel Arteta can expose.
Bernardo Silva has been deployed on the right of City’s attack in recent weeks, while Arsenal have started Riccardo Calafiori in every game thus far.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Clarke revealed his belief that Silva won’t be capable of tracking Calafiori’s marauding runs forward.
“Can Calafiori make those runs himself?” Clarke pondered.
“Bernardo Silva has been playing on the right for Man City lately, does he really want to go and track Calafiori? I’m not sure he does. That could be a tool for us going forward.”
Riccardo Calafiori’s free role could be integral for Arsenal against Man City
Calafiori has been described as ‘intelligent’ in the past, and it’s evident in the role that Arteta has given him that this is the case.
The Spaniard has tasked the Italian with popping up in a number of different areas on the pitch, while still being able to recover into the left-back spot when Arsenal lose possession.
Fulfilling this sort of free role to a high level is incredibly taxing mentally, and it’s a testament to the player’s ability that he’s able to do it.
Calafiori has added an element of unpredictability to Arsenal and this could prove to be the difference on Sunday.
As Clarke alluded to, the former Bologna man will roam forward into advanced positions, and Silva will either leave him free or track him, which will, in turn, negate City’s right-hand side as an attacking force.
This small tactical nuance sets the Gunners up to secure all three points.
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