Bukayo Saka has arguably been Arsenal’s most important player this season, scoring seven goals and getting eight assists in 21 games.
Arsenal legend, Tony Adams has suggested that the Arsenal attacker is capable of “tearing apart” Manchester City tonight in Arsenal’s biggest game of the season so far.
Arsenal currently sit top of the Premier League, three points clear of City, However if Pep Guardiola’s side win at the Emirates tonight then they will go above the Gunners on goal difference.
If Arsenal win they will go six points clear with a game in hand. It’s a massive game and it’s very likely Bukayo Saka will have a big say in the result tonight.
Gunners winger Saka has only scored one goal in his seven appearances against Man City, which came in this fixture last season, however Tony Adams feels he can ‘tear apart the city defence’ tonight.
Tony Adams on Bukayo Saka against Manchester City:
“If Pep Guardiola does not pay Arsenal the respect they deserve, Bukayo Saka will tear his Manchester City side apart tomorrow. I have no idea what Pep’s trying to do with his defence this season and it’s almost as if he’s trying to throw the title away. So it will be fascinating to see what he tries tomorrow.
If he puts Nathan Ake at left-back and plays his best back four, I think City will win the game. But I’m not convinced that’s what he’ll do, and if he continues to mess about with his formation he’ll have no one to deal with Saka, who has been brilliant all season for both Arsenal and England.
Stop Saka and you stop Arsenal. It’s as simple as that because every time an opposing left-back has a good game against them, they struggle. But Guardiola has just allowed Joao Cancelo to leave and I don’t think he actually knows his best team any more.
He’s got the ammunition to beat every side in the country but there have been a number of times this season when he’s tried to get clever with his tactics and it backfired on him. It’s almost as if his arrogance is saying ‘we don’t need a left-back, I can put Kevin De Bruyne on the bench, we can have a completely lop-sided formation and we can still win the game.’
So if I was playing against this City team I’d keep getting the ball out to Saka to tear their left- back spot to pieces and smash them for being disrespectful.”
Tony Adams on what would be a good result for Arsenal:
“Really it’s all about being resilient, dogged, professional and a bit boring. If we come off with a goalless draw, hallelujah, that’s a brilliant result and you march on from there. But like Guardiola, Mikel Arteta is a very offensive coach and neither of them go out with the intention of keeping a clean sheet.”
