"That's in no way an excuse" - Emmanuel Adebayor makes interesting request to Mikel Arteta ahead of Manchester City vs Arsenal

Former Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor has urged Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to stick with the same backline for their upcoming clash against Manchester City on Wednesday, April 26.

Despite their disappointing defensive performance against Southampton, Adebayor believes that Arsenal do not need to change their backline.

Arsenal have suffered since William Saliba went off injured in their Europa League Round of 16 clash against Sporting CP on March 16. The Gunners have dropped points in their last three Premier League games.

Speaking to Wettbasis, Adebayor claimed that wants to see Arsenal stick with a back-four of Ben White, Rob Holding, Gabriel, and Oleksandr Zinchencko for their clash against City. He said:

"Even if the entire defense was disappointing against Southampton on Friday, I would leave it at this back four. For six weeks and the injury to William Saliba, Arteta has been playing in this basic formation and allowing the automatisms to take hold. Maybe the Gunners had their heads in the Etihad, though that's in no way an excuse."

The upcoming City vs Arsenal clash at the Etihad is being billed as a mini-final for the Premier League title. Arsenal are the league leaders with 75 points after 32 matches, but City are hot on their heels with 70 points from 30 games.

"There's not been a real improvement" - Mikel Arteta on William Saliba's recovery ahead of Arsenal vs Man City clash

William Saliba has not managed to recover in time and has been ruled out of the Manchester City clash. Mikel Arteta has confirmed that the defender's recovery is taking longer than expected, but they will not push him to get back on the pitch.

When asked if Saliba would be out for the season, Arteta said on Tuesday:

"There's not been a real improvement, unfortunately on him, so we're still waiting. We're still hopeful, but another week has gone by and he hasn't been able to train with the team. At the moment we don't have him. We are preparing the game without him and probably the next game will come too soon as well. We have to go week by week at the moment."

In Saliba's absence, the Gunners have conceded nine goals in their last five matches. His deputy Rob Holding's performances have come under the scanner as Arsenal have faltered due to a leaky defense.