Alan Shearer on Man City v Arsenal: The winner of Haaland v Saliba may end on the winning side | OneFootball

English Premier League

Alan previews Sunday's huge Premier League clash

Like the rest of us, Alan Shearer can't wait for Super Sunday's blockbuster clash between Man City and Arsenal, and the Betfair Ambassador believes the winner of Haaland v Saliba could well decide the outcome...

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Arsenal would snap your hand off for a point

If you offered Arsenal the option to go to the Etihad and get a point like they did last year, they'd snap your hands off. They don't need to go there and win.

You have to understand what Man City are, how they play and how difficult they are to beat. As good as Arsenal are, they certainly wouldn't get criticised from me if they went to the Etihad and put in another performance like they did last year and came away with a 0-0 draw.

Arsenal are great at defending and I do believe they've got the best back four in the Premier League as a unit, with their organisation and with the protection that they get from in-front too.

Declan Rice will be back which is a massive boost too for Arsenal, so If you gave Arsenal the option to go to the Etihad and get a point now, they'd snap your hands off, I'm sure.

Haaland vs Saliba is a battle of the world's best

In William Saliba, you have a very good defender, and Saliba v Erling Haaland is one of the battles that I'm really looking forward to watching.

You've got one of, if not the best centre-forward in the world and you've got one of, if not the best centre-half in the world, so it'll be a fantastic, intriguing battle.

Both are great at what they do. Saliba loves defending, you can tell, and against Spurs, the way he and Gabriel defended their box was superb, they enjoy that part of the game. They love nothing more than clearing the ball or getting on the end of the ball before the centre-forward does.

Haaland, we know just loves scoring goals, so it's going to be a fantastic battle in that position.

Winner of Haaland v Saliba may end on winning side

Haaland struggled against Arsenal last season, and it reminded me of when I was starting out because Arsenal were so tough to beat then, too.

They had the unbelievable defence of David Seaman, Tony Adams, Lee Dixon, Nigel Winterburn and Steve Bould or Martin Keown. The fans always used to sing '1-0 to the Arsenal' back then, and it was very much then like it is now with Arsenal, in terms of the number of clean sheets they get.

Once they go 1-0 up, it's so difficult to get back into the game.

I remember having some great battles. I've still got the scars on my face, lip and head to prove some of the battles against that Arsenal back four so Haaland will have to be bang at it on Sunday.

The winning side could come from the how the battle between Haaland and those two centre backs ends up.

Haaland is up against an incredible partnership in Gabriel and Saliba so whoever wins that battle could decide the outcome of the game.

Five point gap after five games would be hugely difficult for Arsenal

The question was put to Mikel Arteta last week, and he said that Arsenal need to be almost perfect if they are going to win the league this season, so if they lose on Sunday, and are five points behind after only five games, then it would already make it hugely difficult for Arsenal to catch them.

Man City v Arsenal prediction

I am going for a draw in this one. It's a long week with both teams having played in the Champions League as well, so a draw for both teams isn't a bad result, even though Man City are at home.

Liverpool have dropped points already, Arsenal have dropped two points already at home to Brighton, but I don't think a draw would be a disaster for either team.

Man City v Arsenal combined XI

Ederson

Kyle Walker

William Saliba

Gabriel

Jurien Timber

Rodri

Bernardo Silva

Kevin de Bruyne

Phil Foden

Bukayo Saka

Erling Haaland