“Can I be honest?” - Ian Wright claims Arsenal would have won against Manchester City if one player started

Arsenal icon Ian Wright reckons his former side would have beaten Manchester City had Gabriel Martinelli been included in the starting XI. The two sides played out a 0-0 draw in their Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium yesterday (Sunday, March 31).

Arsenal missed their chance to return to the top of the league table as they were held to a stalemate. Despite looking comfortable defensively, Mikel Arteta's side lacked the firepower up front to threaten Manchester City's goal. They only recorded six shots in total, with two being on target.

Arteta made the bold decision to drop Martinelli in favor of starting Gabriel Jesus on the left wing and Kai Havertz as the No. 9. Wright gave his take on Wrighty's House, saying (via The Boot Room):

“Today was just fantastic in the way that we all stayed very disciplined with what we’re doing. Can I be honest? If Martinelli’s playing that game, I think we win that game.

“I genuinely do, because some of the times, we were playing so deep and I was thinking, okay, we’ve got Saka all the way back, Jesus was all the way back there, I’m thinking okay they’re doing that job to make sure that they stifle everywhere that they try to come in."

He added:

“But I was looking at us. We were so low in respect of getting out of our third that I was thinking we’re going to be in trouble here. Can we keep this up? Simply because it seemed like such a long way to go without someone like Martinelli, who looks to do that, and they will know he looks to do that.

"So they’ll try and give us a little bit more space to deal with Martinelli. So I was pleased to see him come on because it makes Man City have to think of something totally different.”

Martinelli did make an appearance in the 78th minute, replacing Bukayo Saka, however, he was unable to make much of an impact. The Brazilian has been a threat all season for Arsenal, scoring eight goals and providing five assists in 33 appearances across all competitions. He also scored the winner in the Gunners' 1-0 win against Manchester City in the reverse fixture earlier this season.

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Manchester City vs Arsenal: Who was the Player of the Match?

Manchester City and Arsenal both dropped points as they played out a 0-0 draw on Sunday. As per FotMob, Rodri was adjusted to be the Player of the Match, receiving the highest rating of any player on the pitch (8.3).

The Spaniard completed 110 out of his attempted 120 passes with an accuracy of 92 per cent. In addition, he created three big chances, won 15 duels, and made four recoveries as he showcased his dominance in midfield once again.

Rodri has had a monstrous season for Manchester City, scoring seven goals and registering 11 assists in 38 appearances across all competitions. He is now also unbeaten in any game across competitions in over a year.

Meanwhile, the Sky Blues are currently third with 64 points from 29 games, one point behind Arsenal, and three behind leaders Liverpool.