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A heavyweight battle between the free spending Manchester City and the frugal Arsenal; join us for EPL live scores and a live blog from 3.00am (ADST).
As clubs, Manchester City and Arsenal have conflicting styles. Since their takeover, City have turned heads with their spending. So much change, so many new players. Proper stars too, established with the group of the world’s heaviest hitting clubs which City hopes to join.
Arsenal by contrast, are already in this club, and have chosen to maintain their place by investing in what might be, rather than what already is.
Where City go and buy Yaya Toure and David Silva to get straight into the business of winning trophies, Arsenal are happy to pick up Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Francis Coquelin and watch them blossom. Instant gratification against gradual evolution.
This weekend, for the first time this season, the rest of the league will see how City respond to a loss. They squandered a dominant position last week.
For half an hour they made Stamford Bridge look like a routine assignment, then came undone under the weight of Chelsea’s characteristic tenacity and Gael Clichy’s impetuous dismissal.
They’re still on top of the pile, but this is a big test for them. Another stumble here would have their rivals believing the door was open and the bubble pierced.
Arsene Wenger’s last five years have been defined by this faith in youth combined with a pure footballing style. These years have also been defined by the failure to deliver a single trophy to Highbury or the Emirates since the 2005 FA Cup final.
However they have clambered back to both respectability and the top four since their nadir at Old Trafford. If they could go to Etihad Stadium, now a great icon of football’s excesses, and beat the league leaders, their recovery would be confirmed and Wenger deeply vindicated.
Robin van Persie is now the undisputed main man and he appears to love it. His run of form alone means Arsenal are a serious threat.
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