We have a heavyweight clash in theEFL Cup Final on Sunday asArsenal battleManchester City.
Mikel Arteta meets his former bossPep Guardiola for the 15th time; while Guardiola holds the overall advantage, Arteta has gotten the better of him recently.
Since theCommunity Shield in August of 2023, Arsenal are unbeaten against Manchester City.
Before that, Arteta couldnt get past his former boss, losing eight of his first nine meetings against Guardiola.
Things are a bit different this time around because Arsenal are now clearly the best team in thePremier League and perhaps the more tactically diverse side in Sundays clash.
This is a very important final for the Gunners because not only are they still alive in all four competitions, but they have not won a major trophy since the 2020FA Cup Final.
For Manchester City, the season is starting to slip through their fingers.
They are currently trailing Arsenal by nine points in the title race, and they were recently knocked out of theChampions League again byReal Madrid.
The battles between Arteta and Guardiola typically produce some of the highest-level tactical battles in world football, and Sunday’s EFL Cup final should be no different.
In this tactical preview, we are going to look at the tactical battle for each team, both in and out of possession, using some of their recent matches and their previous meeting in September.
Arsenal Vs Manchester City Head-To-Head In Their Last Six Meetings
With two managers so obsessed not only with maintaining control but also with being very conservative in possession, these encounters typically produce very low-event matches.
Over the last six meetings, neither team has averaged more than one expected goal per match, while shots are typically hard to come by.
Category Arsenal Manchester City
Goals 1.82 0.55
Expected Goals 0.79 0.89
Shots 9.64 7.45
Touches in the Box 22.67 20.67
Possession 44.83% 55.17%
Note: All stats above are per 90 minutes in 11v11 matches over their last six meetings.
Manchester City are typically the team that controls the majority of possession in these encounters, but that doesnt translate into many high-quality chances because Arsenal are so difficult to play through.
Arsenal In Possession Vs Manchester City Out Of Possession
Typically, in these encounters with Manchester City, Arteta favours a more conservative approach both in and out of possession.
More often than not, he will concede a lot of possession to Pep’s side, but in the previous meeting in September, that all changed.
In the 1-1 draw, Arsenal held67% of the ball, had39 touches in Manchester City’s penalty area, and had over double Citys passes in the final third (272 vs 121).
This may have been a product of Manchester City going ahead inside the first 10 minutes.
Still, Arsenal were able to comfortably build out from the back without much pressure from City.
The Gunners often usedDeclan Rice as a single pivot, dropping into the backline like we see below.
Rice Deep
Alternatively, they used Rice andMartin Zubimendi as a double pivot to try to create an overload in the first phase.
What this often did, though, was free up space between the lines forMikel Merino or evenLeandro Trossard to drop in and receive the ball.
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