“It’s a long week with both teams having played in the Champions League” - Alan Shearer makes result prediction for Manchester City vs Arsenal

Premier League great Alan Shearer has given his prediction for this weekend's big game between Manchester City and Arsenal. The two Premier League hopefuls will be up against each other at the Etihad on Sunday, September 22.

Alan Shearer has predicted a stalemate and insisted that both teams would like the result. The former Newcastle United striker has claimed that he would relish the battle between William Saliba and Erling Haaland, who are two of the best in their respective positions.

Shearer told Betfair, as quoted by The Mirror:

“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. 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."

The former Premier League superstar added:

“In William Saliba, you have a very good defender, there’s no doubt about that and Saliba v 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."

Shearer concluded:

“The winner on Sunday could come from the battle Haaland has with those two centre backs. 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.”

Manchester City have enjoyed a flawless start to their Premier League campaign winning all four games so far. Arsenal, on the other hand, have won three and drawn one and are second in the table behind the Cityzens.

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Rio Ferdinand highlights Arsenal's key weakness as they take on Manchester City

Former Manchester United defender turned pundit Rio Ferdinand has highlighted Arsenal's weakness ahead of their trip to Manchester City. The two sides will lock horns at the Etihad on Sunday, September 22.

Ferdinand has claimed that the Gunners are not prolific enough attacking wise and that could hurt them against Pep Guardiola's side. The ex-England defender said, as quoted by Metro:

"I think that would be my concern at the weekend, I think the creativity, it’s something you look at today, the manager said it in his post-game comments, bit sloppy, ball retention wasn’t where it wanted to be. And that will have to improve, they’ll have to be more clinical and decisive when they get that one or two opportunities."

Ferdinand added:

"Let’s face it, City aren’t going to give them five or six opportunities, I’ll be surprised if they get that. Today, Martinelli had a really good chance and he wasn’t composed enough. They are areas where they’ll have to clean up their act if they’re going to get anything against Man City."