As Man City battles Arsenal
By Paul Erewuba
It promises to be another interesting football weekend in the entire leagues across the world.
In the English Premier League, (EPL), Chelsea would attempt to consolidate on their leadership position, as they confront relegation threatened Crystal Palace today at the Stamford Bridge.
Keen EPL watchers expect Chelsea to get even better as the players continue to adapt to Antonio Conte’s methods and ideas, despite the team closing in on the Premier League title.
A 2-1 win at Stoke City last Saturday protected Chelsea’s 10-point cushion at the top of the table, with just 10 games remaining.
The Italian believes his team has bought into his philosophy and he backs Chelsea to continue to improve as he spends more time working on the squad.
Second placed Tottenham HotSpurs will be away to hard fighting Burnley who are 13th on the log with 32 points.
Also, top four chasing Liverpool will confront Everton while Manchester United will lock horns with West Brom.
But top of the class encounter is the ‘fight’ between Kelechi Iheanacho and Alex Iwobi in London, as Arsenal host Manchester United tomorrow at the Emirates Stadium.
Pep Guardiola and Arsène Wenger are two managers whose pass-pass-attack ethos is about as identical as can be expected so this match would fascinating.
Already, the match is generating a lot of interest amongst both teams’ fans and players as well.
Manchester City striker Iheanacho has sensationally fired a warning to Iwobi that they are coming to fight with the same fighting spirit they produced against Liverpool, insisting that they will fight – to – the finish.
Indeed, Manchester City played well against Liverpool and showed good character. They are in a good position in the Premier League, all they need do is to keep fighting and focus on the games, as they come.
Man City defeated Arsenal 2-1 at home in December and have an opportunity to go 10 points clear of the North London club with a win tomorrow.
Iheanacho has made 16 league appearances for City this season – netting four goals in the process.
He certainly will perform if Guardiola goes ahead to field him.
But will Iwobi’s Arsenal just fold their hands and see their top four ambition further crashing on their faces?
Arsenal must mirror the never-say-die attitude and work-rate of forward Alexis Sanchez if they hope to salvage their faltering campaign.
The north London club were knocked out of the Champions League 10-2 on aggregate by Bayern Munich and lost ground in the race to finish in the Premier League’s top four after a run of four losses in five games left them sixth on the log. But a winning attitude might see them gravitating into Top Four.