Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno says the team’s tactics from their battling draw at Chelsea can be the blueprint for success at Manchester City on Wednesday.
Back in January, Arsenal twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Stamford Bridge in a game that they also finished with 10 men following defender David Luiz’s red card after 26 minutes.
Mikel Arteta’s side dug deep on the night and soaked up plenty of pressure, which resulted in them finishing the match with just 41 per cent possession and two shots on target.
Arsenal now face another trip to a top-four side as Arteta returns to the Etihad on Wednesday for the first time since he quit his role as Pep Guardiola’s assistant.
After beating West Ham on Saturday, Arsenal are unbeaten in their last eight Premier League games and Leno says the Gunners can extend that run at City by replicating the performance they put in at Chelsea in January.
“I think on Wednesday it will be a completely different game because on Saturday we had a lot of possession, West Ham were waiting for set pieces or counter attacks,” said Leno.
“I think against Manchester City, maybe they will have more possession so it will be a completely different game. Maybe we are defending deeper, I don’t know.
“It depends on the game, it depends on the tactics.
“I think you can see that against Chelsea, they had a lot of possession and were always playing around the box and at the end we got a 2-2 draw with one less player.
“Maybe these kind of games suit us.
“I think we have to respect this team, they have a lot of quality that’s clear, but we also want to go back to London with at least one point.
“Our job now is to reduce the gap to the Champions League. It’s eight [points] to Chelsea, it’s now our job to reduce that gap.
“But it depends on us. The other teams maybe will lose some points and we have everything in our hands. It depends only on us.”
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