Arsenal are looking to claim the Premier League title ahead of Manchester City with one defender, who has played them both, making it clear who is harder to face
Kyle Walker insists Man City are still tougher to play on their day than Arsenal
Kyle Walker admits that Manchester City are still a harder team to play against than Arsenal – despite them trailing the Gunners by nine points in the Premier League title race.
The north Londoners are hot favourites to win the top flight, which would end 22 years of waiting following their success of 2004. They have been on top for the majority of the campaign with their tactics not pleasing everyone as they make huge use of set pieces.
City have struggled to find the consistency they’ve had in previous years, which has meant they’ve continued to drop points. When they’ve found top gear though, they’ve looked irresistible and Walker, now at Burnley, has had to come up against both teams.
Arsenal have been the pacesetters and the most consistent team across the course of the season but the ex-City right-back insists they aren’t the hardest team to combat.
He told Sky Bet: “No, Arsenal are not harder to play against this season compared to Manchester City. City know what they’re doing, and it’s ingrained in them because there’s a core group of players there that know what is needed and wanted from the manager, which will be you isolate your full backs 1v1 and the wingers will probably nine times out of 10 win you the game.
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“I’ve worked with Mikel Arteta at Manchester City and Mikel’s taken a lot of things from Pep in the way that he coaches. It’s the formation, it’s the up, back and throughs. It’s the set the ball, don’t turn on the ball.”
The Gunners have proved to be the masters of set-piece situations. Their success from corners and free-kicks into the box has helped them win numerous games and they’ve continued to set records for goals from dead ball situations. Walker batted away the criticism they’ve faced however, insisting they’ve simply making use of the opportunities they get.
He said: “With the long throws and the set-pieces, you look at Arsenal, for example, everyone’s talking about Arsenal, that they’re the set-piece team. It’s allowed in football. If you get a corner, you have to take a corner, and if you score from a corner, well done.’
Walker admitted it was “horrific” to try and defend their set pieces as he added: “The movement is just not normal in football. You’re constantly looking over your back, when you’re seeing Gabriel or [William] Saliba, these big six-foot-four men running at you.
“I remember I got done on a goal at [Manchester] City, when he was trying to touch me and I’m slapping him away and suddenly, one movement there, one movement behind, I’ve lost him. We were zonal at Manchester City, but Pep Guardiola put me on Gabriel just to hold him. You think, he’s not scoring this one. And then, goal.”
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