Weekend preview: No party for City, Arsenal showing signs of life?
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What are the key Premier League matches previewed this weekend?
Hello and welcome to the Sky Sports Football Weekend Preview. Coming up, we'll be discussing all the big talking points in the Premier League this weekend, including Arsenal's big clash with Man City on Super Sunday. I'm Peter Smith, the Sky Sports Football Features Editor, and this week I'm joined by two of our outstanding football journalists, Oli Yu. Hello. Hello, how are you doing? And James Dale. Hi, thanks for having me. How are you guys? Very well, very well. Hopefully you live up to that outstanding tag. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Well, I'm doing less well, as you may be able to hear. I've got a bit of a Sean Dyche voice going on at the moment, but it's Christmas party tonight. I'm here, I'm ready to go.
Just got power through. So, here we go. But, well, some people not having a Christmas party tonight, or last night, was the Man City players. Pep's banned it. He said, no, we need to focus. I think they lost to Crystal Palace after their... after last season's shindig. So, Oli, it's getting serious for them. That Manchester derby defeat, it looks like it's spelt the end of their title hopes. And although they came back with that Champions League win, a big Champions League win over Dynamo Zagreb, it was not quite right at Man City at the moment.
No, and their problems have been well documented. They're struggling at the back, the midfield, the problems there, the lack of intensity, and they've missed Sergio Aguero. Gabriel Jesus scored a hat-trick in the Champions League, but Aguero is a big miss. While the problems for City in that game were pretty obvious, we have to give Man United a lot of credit. You know, their performance, Jamie Carragher described it as out of this world. And even if City were at their best, they would have struggled to have stayed with United. You know, they played with pace and movement, they went full throttle, and they just didn't let City settle. They couldn't get organised.
Yeah, it was a fantastic game. performance from Man United. It really capped a fantastic week for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer after that win over Spurs in midweek as well. We'll come on to them in the second part of this podcast. James, when we look at that City team now, is it time perhaps for them to reassess their goals for the season? We saw Phil Foden and Jay Zeus impress in the Champions League game where they had obviously already topped their group. The draw on Monday, they find out who they've got.
How is Manchester City's recent form affecting their title hopes?
In the last 16, is it perhaps time where Pep starts thinking about that? Obviously, it's a little way off, but is that starting to become more of his priority now this season?
I think it will definitely be in the back of his mind. I mean, 14 points behind Liverpool now, and I think that draw on Monday will say a lot. The win against Dinamo Zagreb. would have kind of lifted the mood again and I think all City fans will start thinking, hang on a minute, I think we need to refocus our attentions onto the Champions League now. You know, what City do have which helps them go for a Champions League campaign is strength in numbers. You know, we saw Gabriel Jesus come into the side and score a hat-trick. That's five goals in three games for him now. And whilst they do miss Aguero, he's very much a good understudy to have. But there's just one or two signs that they need freshening up, I think.
We saw, as you mentioned, Phil Foden come into the side. David Silva's been there a long time. He's obviously been arguably City's best ever player. But is it a bit of time for fresh legs, I think maybe? They just look like they need some new ideas almost.
Yeah, I mean, if you look at David Silva in the past couple of seasons, he's been key to City's intensity and press. We all know about him on the ball and the control he has of games. But Pep got him working for the team as much as anyone, him alongside De Bruyne, and that's been key to City's success. In the last few weeks, we've just seen those levels drop. He's in his final season at the club. And I'm not going to sit here and write him off.
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