Journalist Charles Watts has suggested that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta could go to a back three in the club's huge game tonight.
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Matches don't come much bigger than tonight's clash in the Premier League as the Gunners travel away to title rivals Manchester City.
Indeed, Arteta and his side arrive at the Etihad with a five-point lead at the top of the table, but if they lost that gap will drop to just two – with City having played two games fewer.
Essentially, that means the Gunners can't afford to lose and really need to win, though confidence might not be high having drawn their last three league outings.
With this being the case – and with key defender William Saliba definitely ruled out – Arteta may opt to mix things up to help Arsenal pick up a result.
Indeed, while speaking on his YouTube channel, Watts suggested that they could go to a back three on the night.
He explained: “I don't know what Mikel's thinking. He was kind of hinting yesterday – when people were asking him, 'are you going to try something a little bit different?', he was like, 'well, we'll wait and see'.
"He's done it before at the Etihad and I would not be at all surprised if I look at the teamsheet tonight when it comes out at 7 o'clock and I'm like, 'ooh, what's he done there?' And he has tried something a little bit different.
"Whether that be suddenly switching to a back three, and, you know, bringing in either Kiwior as a left-sided centre-back or Kieran Tierney as a left-sided centre-back, and playing Gabriel and Ben White alongside them at centre-back, and then playing wing-backs."
How will Arsenal line up against Man City?
Seeing as Arsenal have played with a back four all season long, it would certainly be a bold ploy from Arteta to mix things up ahead of this huge game.
Of course, north London rivals Tottenham Hotspur did the opposite on the weekend and played four at the back against Newcastle having used a back three all season prior, and we all know how that turned out…
So perhaps Arsenal may want to use that as a warning sign not to make any major changes to the usual structure of the team.
However, when Arteta was asked by the press if he was tempted to make a big tactical switch, the 41-year-old cryptically replied (via football.london): "We will see tomorrow."
With that being the case, don't be shocked if the Gunners do line up with a back three tonight.
