Man City face Arsenal dilemma before Champions League game with Napoli

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will have to think about what he wants from Arsenal before moving onto Napoli

Manchester City and Arsenal meet for the first time in the Premier League this season in similar circumstances to the last, only with some key points reversed.

The first is who will be expected to win the game, with Arsenal now clear ahead of City given the drop in standards at the Etihad last year. The second, informing the first, is that the game will be played at the Emirates - where Arsenal won 5-1 last season - rather than in Manchester, where the points were shared.

The third relates to the Champions League. Both have their first European night of the season to navigate before they lock horns again to renew their very modern rivalry.

Last year City firmly held the advantage, with their home game against Inter coming the day before Arsenal were away at Atalanta - and then had to travel up to Manchester once they returned. It's a rubbish situation for any Premier League game, never mind one of the bigger ones.

The Blues have it similarly bad this year. Arsenal play in Bilbao on Tuesday night but will be back in North London on Wednesday well over a day before City host Italian champions Napoli at the Etihad on Thursday. Friday will be a recovery day, Saturday will be travel, so when and how exactly does Pep Guardiola prepare a side for Arsenal?

Poorly, is the answer that nobody wants but everyone will have to accept. It won't be how anyone at City wants it, but it is the reality of modern football where the calendar is so bloated that all teams playing in multiple competitions - and it is all teams, before any of them start whining about being excluded - are routinely stuffed.

Managers like to insist on taking one game at a time, but in such circumstances it simply isn't possible. Guardiola has to be thinking about what he wants his team at Arsenal to look like before the Napoli game.

How much influence that has on the Napoli game, and whether it means anybody that would ordinarily start against Napoli is saved for Arsenal, is down to the manager. But it has to at least be a consideration before a Champions League ball has been kicked.

Arteta to an extent must have had some of the same thoughts, even with more days to prepare. Do you prioritise the league game because it feels like it is more important to the season, or trust that a good result in the Champions League - where there are fewer matches left to recover the situation if you lose - is more significant for the bigger picture of building momentum in all competitions?

That is the dilemma for Guardiola on Wednesday and Thursday before he picks his team for Napoli. Which players are used, and how many changes there are between the games, may give an indication of who the manager sees as integral to his team right now.

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