One of the consequences of the rescheduled clash between Arsenal and Manchester City is Pep Guardiola’s side now have more time to get their best players fully fit.
It’s never nice to see players picking up injuries, but one of the positives of Arsenal facing Manchester City on Wednesday, before the Premier League rescheduled it, was that they aren’t at their strongest right now.
They lost to Manchester United over the weekend, and they had a few key players out.
Kevin De Bruyne was back in training, but a strong doubt for Wednesday’s game. Sergio Aguero was fit, but recovering from a knock. Leroy Sane was getting closer to a senior return.
Even if Sane had featured on Wednesday, that wouldn’t have been a major worry. I watched him play for the Manchester City u23s recently, and he’s not back up to full speed yet.
That all changes with the decision to postpone the match. De Bruyne surely won’t be a doubt by the time the new date comes around. Sane might have had a few games to get sharp, and Aguero’s knock will be long behind him.
The upside is that Arsenal will have some players back of their own. Cedric Soares and Kieran Tierney are back in full training, and they now have some time to get up to speed against non-big-six opponents.
That’s a bonus, but not quite like welcoming De Bruyne, Sane and Aguero back. Arsenal are just going to have to try and face City at their best instead.