ARSENAL are set for a Premier League title boost with Manchester City predicted to lose ELEVEN points after Rodri’s injury woe.
The midfielder limped off during Sunday’s 2-2 Etihad epic.
And reports claim Rodri is now set to miss the rest of the season after tearing his ACL.
City are yet to confirm whether or not the Spanish Euros winner has indeed suffered the huge setback.
He is currently in Barcelona to see a specialist, who could rule him out for up to a year.
And should Rodri be absent for the remainder of the campaign, a supercomputer reckons it’s finally advantage Arsenal in the title race.
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According to Opta, City have only lost 11 per cent of their games with Rodri in the team since his 2018 arrival.
That builds up to an impressive return of 2.36 points per game.
But when Rodri hasn’t been involved, City’s loss rate climbs to 24 per cent.
Their points per game ratio also falls to 2.04.
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And based on the above, the Standard has calculated that City will finish on 80 points this season.
The last time a team won the title with that number was Manchester United in the 2010/11 term.
Arsenal ratings vs Man City
TEN-MAN Arsenal came desperately close to beating Man City.
Unfortunately for Mikel Arteta’s men, John Stones popped up in the 98th minute to score an equaliser with the match ending 2-2.
Here’s how the players rated…
DAVID RAYA – 9
Well beaten for Haaland’s opener but continued his impressive start to the season with some super second half stops – notably from Haaland and Gvardiol.
RICARDO CALAFIORI – 8
A full debut the Italian won’t forget. Didn’t get close enough to Savinho for the opening goal but made amends with his stunning long range curler to level it.
GABRIEL – 9
Planted one header over but made no mistake with his second one just before the break to score for the second straight weekend.
WILLIAM SALIBA – 8
Clattered by Haaland early on and lost the Norwegian for City’s goal – but dusted himself down and led the rearguard action for the visitors superbly.
JURRIEN TIMBER – 8
Asked to play an unfamiliar role on the right but did a great job for his boss keeping the livewire Doku quiet – and did fine when Pep changed it around too.
GABRIEL MARTINELLI – 7
Caused Walker plenty of problems in the first half. Played the ball back for Calafiori to score and teed up another great chance for Trossard.
DECLAN RICE – 7
Helped Arsenal work their way back into the game after early onslaught – and protected the back four so well when City were camped on the edge of the box.
THOMAS PARTEY – 7
Quick thinking from free-kick led to equaliser – also involved in the collision with Rodri that changed the course of the game.
BUKAYO SAKA – 6
Always a threat with his corners – not least when Arsenal got their second. Subbed at the break to make way for an extra defender.
LEANDRO TROSSARD – 4
Steered good chance over. Booked for pulling back Savinho then a second yellow for barge on Silva and then delaying the restart. Stupid from the Belgian.
KAI HAVERTZ – 7
Early collision with Rodri and caused a few problems in the first half but then had to focus on helping his 10 man team out defensively.
SUBS
WHITE – 7
(For Saka 46) – Thrown on to shore up the defence at the break – and did exactly that.
KIWIOR – 6
(For Calafiori 74 )– Gave the Italian a rest for the final few minutes and kept it tight.
JESUS – 6
(For Martinelli 87) – Some good pressing against his old team in the closing minutes
LEWIS SKELLY – 6
(For Timber 90) – Good experience for the youngster but was bizarrely booked before even coming on for his debut.
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And while in another campaign that could potentially be enough for five titles in a row, Arsenal’s recent finishes make that unlikely.
Two seasons ago the Gunners finished on 84 points.
While last term they picked up an impressive 89 points.
And if Mikel Arteta emulates that number, he is likely to see Arsenal clinch their first title since the Invincibles
City will now be praying for a miracle, with a potential finish of 91 points still on the cards if Rodri is somehow cleared of injury and returns to the team for Saturday’s clash at Newcastle.
That’s the same amount of points they ended with last season to win a historic four titles on the bounce.
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Meanwhile, the likes of Liverpool, Aston Villa and Chelsea have all enjoyed strong starts to the season and could fancy their chances in case of a City slip.
If nothing else, the battle for top four is likely to be an intense one, with 68 points enough for Villa to clinch the final Champions League spot last term.
We thought games like this had been lost
SunSport’s NEIL CUSTIS hails chaotic Man City vs Arsenal clash as a return to the Premier League of yesteryear.
FOR two teams who have done so much to take the game forward this really was a tremendous throwback.
We thought these games had been lost.
Real feisty encounters between two rivals fighting for the top honours.
How we used to love it when Manchester United came up against Arsenal when Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger were in charge.
When Roy Keane, watching on as a TV pundit here, used to clash with Patrick Vieira before a ball had been kicked.
The Manchester derbies used to have it as well.
In fact that were clashes everywhere throughout the league.
Since then the emphasis on the beauty of the game, the tactical side, the ball playing centre-back, the false nine, the inverted full-backs have all come to the fore.
But English football still loves something like this.
Compare this to the two matches between this pair last season not least the really STALEmate here.
Then along comes a blood and thunder classic.
A match to set the tone for what we all hope will be a real title tussle to the end but with that added edge.
While these two managers maybe good friends who knows we may even get the niggly comments in pre-match press conferences about each others teams.
We knew we were in for something a bit different as straight from the kick-off Kai Havertz charged into Rodri and left him flawed.
The first players’ melee ensued.
Foreign coaches often scratch their heads as to why English crowds love stuff like this.
Love a thumping tackle, or a bit of a barney.
How that as much as any sweeping move gets them to the edge of their seats and there was plenty of that here.
Jurrien Timber was employed on the right to combat the pace of Jeremy Doku.
SO Doku just charged into him and floored him.
Rodri was clearly seen as one of City’s key men so at a corner Thoams Party followed up Havertz’s early example and caught him behind the knee, and the player hobbled out of the action.
Gabriel and Erling Haaland was a classic battle between a big centre-forward and an Arsenal centre-back who performs like greats of old like Tony Adams and Martin Keown.
A player for whom a thumping tackle warrants the same high fives or celebrations as something defining at the other end of the pitch.
Haaland did brilliantly to pull away William Saliba and slip behind Gabriel for his goal.
Gabriel will have been fuming having kept the big Norwegian so quiet last season.
He barely gave him another sniff of goal, barring a second-half header saved, as he stuck to him, the pair often pushing and shoving one another as Haaland became frustrated with his shadow.
Leandro Trossard did not get his second yellow and therefore the only red for the actual barge on Bernardo as everyone first thought but for kicking the ball away after that.
Both technical areas were a flurry of arm waving and shouting from the two managers.
The staff on the two benches started having a go at each other and Guardiola had to intervene.
In the press box one of Arsenal’s technical staff was losing it.
As Arsenal players went down with cramp and played for time the boos went up.
The fourth official was getting in the ear.
Michael Oliver was being told he was not fit to referee by a large section of the home support.
When Arsenal fans were spotted in the posh seats having been in the expensive tunnel club City fans shouted and pointed to try and get them ejected.
Right at the end after City’s dramatic equaliser and the game restarted Haaland barged into Partey and every player on the pitch got involved even the two goalkeepers.
At the final whistle the ref was harrangued.
On the touchline Guardiola and Arteta hugged.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
