Man City is on the up and with Sane and Sterling attacking the flanks, with De bruyne and Silva in support, they will tear our defence to shreds whatever formation we played - 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 or 3-5-2.

Worse, 3-4-3 against Boros shown that Back-4 is still in disarray with an off-form and declining Koscielny, no better than a championship defender, misreading crosses and executing air-balls.

To even has a sniffer of a chance against Man City, we need to be like Mourinho's ManU to stop Silva and De Bruyne from playing and stop all rosses and passes from the flanks.


.....................................Cech


...Gabriel...................Koscielny................Holding


...Bellerin...............Ozil .... Xhaka................Monreal


...OX.........................Giroud...................Alexis

We still need Giroud to hold the ball up and needs his height to help in the defence against corners and freekicks.

The Trio of Gabriel-Bellerin-OX will prevent the run of Sane and keep him quiet.
Simialrly, Holding-Xhaka-Monrel must protect the right flank and against De Bruyne operating at our left side.

Let's hope Koscielny will recover his form and protect our centre with the help of Gabriel, Holding and Xhaka.

With OX and Bellerin operating as wing backs and Gabriel sweeping behind them, this will provide defensive solidity at our right flank.

But our left flank is still troublesome.
Unless Alexis recovers his Duracell Bunny form and running up and down our left flank, Sterling and De Bruyne will have a field day attacking down this flank.

Can 3-4-3 work against Man City speedy flankers like Sane and Sterling, plus their dominating middle in De Bruyne, Silva and Fernardinho?

It can, if Walcott turns up like he did in August/September 2016, back-tracking and harassing wingers down right flank.

With Bellerin still out of sorts and recovering from his ankle injury, Wenger may not risk him again ... to be destroyed by Sane.

I will spring a surprise to Guardiola like:

.....................................Cech


...Gabriel...................Koscielny................Holding


...OX.................Ramsey .... Xhaka................Monreal


...Walcott.......................Ozil.....................Alexis


All three forwards are given a free-role to inter-change and cut into centre.

A disciplined side with Gabriel-OX-Walcott protecting right flank and Holding-MOnreal-Alexis protecting left flank.


Ramsey-Ozil-Xhaka will need to battle it out in the centre, with Ozil defending high-up the pitch and not depending him to track-back as often, but with an eye to nullify Silva.

Ozil best attributes are his precise short-passes and play-making ability to trakc the runs of Walcott and Alexis, with both Ramsey and Xhaka picking up loose balls outside the box.

This is the game that we need OX to play like a world-class wing-back, with an ability to protect the flank, as well as cut into centre to break up plays like a CM. Let's hope OX keeps improving as he is the key man in winning this game, defending, breaking up plays, beating defenders and setting up accurate crosses.

When all defenders are concentrating on Walcott and OX, Ozil will have that little bit of space and time to set-up plays and a half-of-yard of space to shoot accurately as he can.

3-4-3 is a fluid total football formation with players inter-changing and have more than pne role to play. But it is rigid as ultimately, the roles of every players are well-defined and they seldom strayed from their organizational plays. It is to command space and to squeeze space to prevent your opponents time and space to set up attacks.

If this team can do it, they can win.