Arsenal can beat Manchester City – Arsene Wenger

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal have the required formula to beat Manchester City, but says he won’t “play with seven strikers”.

Arsenal are tasked with bringing City’s sensational start to the season to an end when they travel to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.


City’s flying start has seen them go unbeaten in their opening 16 games in all competitions and has sparked speculation over whether they could go through the entire campaign undefeated.

However, City have won only one of the last nine meetings in all competitions with Wenger’s men, and the Gunners claimed a memorable 2-0 win over the then reigning champions in 2015, which was based on resolute defending.

Arsenal have won six of 10 games in the Premier League this season and sit fifth in the table, level on points with Chelsea and nine points behind leaders Manchester City.

“I believe we can beat them,” Wenger told Soccer AM.

“I’ve been told we’ve only lost once in the last nine fixtures against City, so let’s continue that.

“Maybe if I listen to the so-called experts, City are better than ever before, so that could be a bigger test for us.

“We have to try and contain them when they have the ball as they are a force going forward. The number of goals they’ve scored is quite impressive. It would be suicidal not to be careful defensively. We need to produce a strong defensive performance as a team. That might not be enough.

“It could be an open game as we will attack when we have the ball – although we won’t play with seven strikers.”