On Sunday, Arsenal face Manchester City at the Etihad and Alexis Sanchez comes face-to-face with the team that failed to sign him over the summer.

The trip to Manchester has the makings of Arsenal’s previous clash against Liverpool at the end of August.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was heavily linked with a move to Merseyside, which eventually went through on the final day of the season, and Jurgen Klopp’s team were in form.

As a result, the Gunners lost 4-0 and the Ox put on a disgraceful performance in which he didn’t even bother to pretend he wanted to play for Arsenal.

However, I highly doubt that Alexis v City will be the same as the Ox v Liverpool. And here’s why.

Firstly, Alexis and the Ox are different players in terms of skill. Just because the Chilean has only managed to net one Premier League goal this term doesn’t detract from the fact that he truly is a world class player who City wanted to sign for £60m.

In addition, Alexis is a first team starter. Pep Guardiola didn’t want the forward to be a bit-part player. Unlike Klopp, who’s yet to start the Ox in the Premiership.

Therefore, Alexis, if anything, will probably feel as if he’s got more to prove. If he’s going to potentially be replacing Sergio Aguero, as the reports claim, he’s not going to convince Pep to make the decision if he plays as if he doesn’t care. If he wants to be their first choice striker, he has to prove he’s worthy.

All the Ox had to do was prove he could sit on the bench with Liverpool, which I would say he did a pretty good job at…

That’s not the type of player Alexis is. Although he definitely could have looked a bit livelier for Arsenal this term, he wants to play football. That’s what he cares about. And he wants to play in the Champions League. The only way to do this is play for the move.