Arsenal 0-3 Manchester City
- Goals: Kevin De Bruyne (£10.2m) x2, Raheem Sterling (£11.8m)
- Assists: Gabriel Jesus (£9.6m), De Bruyne, Phil Foden (£5.1m)
- Bonus: De Bruyne x3, Sterling, Nicolas Otamendi (£5.0m) x2
The two most-sold Fantasy Premier League midfielders of Gameweek 17 were on the scoresheet as Manchester City coasted to victory at the Emirates on Sunday.
Kevin De Bruyne (£10.2m) and Raheem Sterling (£11.8m) had been jettisoned by hundreds of thousands of FPL managers over the past week, with their modest recent returns not really reflecting their premium Fantasy asset statuses.
This always looked like the type of game in which they could belatedly prosper, however.
Arsenal have been porous at the back all season and have allowed more shots on goal and attempts on target in home fixtures than any other Premier League side in 2019/20.
Last Monday’s win over West Ham United was fooling no-one, either, with the Gunners mostly abject bar a ten-minute spell after the break.
Injuries in the full-back department – Sead Kolasinac (£5.2m) was the latest to be added to the list of casualties after limping off in the first half – didn’t aid their cause on Sunday.
But even with a fully fit squad, it’s doubtful whether this listless, rudderless Arsenal side would have offered much more resistance than they did.
Manchester City barely got out of second gear as they breezed into a 3-0 lead before the break, with De Bruyne head and shoulders above everyone else on the park.
The Belgian was deployed in a slightly different role than normal in north London, operating in a similar advanced, central position that he took up against Liverpool in Gameweek 12.
Guardiola named Phil Foden (£5.1m) in a Premier League starting XI for the first time in 2019/20, with the youngster initially playing on the left flank rather than in a central midfield three.
Sterling subsequently moved to the right wing, with De Bruyne playing just off Gabriel Jesus (£9.6m) in a 4-2-3-1.
Explaining the Belgian’s more advanced role, Guardiola said:
[Today] he has not to defend positions in deeper areas.
He can play in both positions. But of course… when they can think just in attack, less in defence, it’s much better.
He sees passes and actions that normal human beings cannot see. “You have to score more goals” – always we speak with him about that. Today he scored two incredible goals and made an assist for Raheem.
The Belgian ran riot against an Arsenal defence that seemed caught in the headlights every time he picked up the ball, repeatedly standing off the premium FPL midfielder whenever he surged into their half.
De Bruyne produced a superb controlled finish from a Jesus cross to open the scoring after just two minutes before teeing up Sterling (via a slight deflection) to double the lead soon after.
The peerless Belgian stroked home City’s third on 39 minutes and almost completed his hat-trick before the interval, with Bernd Leno (£5.0m) brilliantly tipping his curling 42nd-minute effort against the woodwork.
Having failed to learn their lesson, a backpedalling Arsenal backline allowed De Bruyne the freedom of north London to waltz his way into a shooting position just after the break, with only a last-ditch block preventing further damage from being inflicted.
The classy De Bruyne aside, City were not quite at their electric best at the Emirates – but they didn’t have to be.
The Citizens barely broke a sweat as they sauntered into a 3-0 lead and the second half (the odd City raid aside) was a bit of non-event, with the game almost having an 11-versus-ten feel as it petered out.
Guardiola even claimed his side had performed better in the Manchester derby, saying:
We played much better against United and we had more chances than today.
While Sterling’s first double-digit haul since Gameweek 10 would have temporarily placated some of his remaining owners, he was some distance from De Bruyne’s levels and City assets would appear unlikely to have it this easy again over Christmas.
The visits of Leicester City and Sheffield United, who are ranked first and joint-second for Premier League clean sheets this season, sandwich a trip to Molineux, where a resurgent Wolves were unbeaten in three months before Spurs edged them out in Gameweek 17.
It may end up being a lot of fuss about nothing but Sterling was also pictured on the Emirates turf at full-time, seemingly complaining of a hip problem when team-mates attempted to treat for him for the effects of cramp.
The England winger did walk off the pitch of his own accord, however, so the issue may have been nothing more than a late, inconsequential knock.
Jesus, a bit like Sterling, delivered a solid rather than spectacular performance in north London and banked the assist for De Bruyne’s first goal.
The Brazilian has a respectable 22 points in the four Gameweeks in which Sergio Aguero (£11.7m) has been absent but, with his positional rival not expected to be out for too much longer, his unbroken run of starts is only a temporary luxury.
City’s defence banked their sixth clean sheet of the season, with centre-halves Nicolas Otamendi (£5.0m) and Fernandinho (£5.2m) deserving praise for their displays, along with Rodri (£5.4m) in front of them.
The shut-out owed as much to Arsenal’s anaemia in attack, however.
The Gunners barely laid a glove on their visitors, not registering a single shot on target after budget FPL forward Gabriel Martinelli (£4.5m) tested Ederson (£6.0m) in the opening minute.
Mesut Ozil (£7.2m) delivered up one of his anonymous specials, reacting petulantly to being substituted before the hour-mark.
An off-target header and an ambitious shot from wide-left of the City box was all that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£10.8m) could muster, meanwhile, but the Gabonese forward was hardly to blame for this defeat, having been starved of service throughout.
Any owners of Everton’s attacking assets would greedily be eyeing up Arsenal’s defence, too, ahead of the two clubs’ meeting next weekend.
With Kolasinac hobbling off and Kieran Tierney (£5.4m) sidelined for months, Arsenal played the last 50 minutes with Bukayo Saka (£4.5m) at left-back.
De Bruyne’s second goal indeed came when Arsenal were down to ten men, with Kolasinac off the field.
Ljungberg summed up the gulf between the two sides after full-time, saying:
We had an 18-year-old winger who came on and had to play at left-back against Raheem Sterling, and we have Gabriel [Martinelli] who’s 18 years old and has to play against Kyle Walker.
Whilst it’s unfair to compare the two clubs, the malaise at Arsenal is nothing new and there have been similar performances against ‘lesser’ teams both before and after Unai Emery’s departure.
There will no doubt be fresh interest in Arsenal assets when a permanent manager is appointed but the current limbo the Gunners find themselves in and the lack of a bounce from Ljungberg’s temporary appointment means that FPL managers will likely be giving them a wide berth for the time being.
Arsenal’s interim head coach acknowledged the state of uncertainty after full-time, saying:
I think it needs clearing up to make a decision so that everybody knows. That’s something I’ve said. It’s totally up to the club. I’m very honoured and trying to do things as well as I can, but I think that it would be good to make a decision regardless of what it is.
