Man City vs Arsenal - Pellegrini expects Man City to rediscover attacking flair against Arsenal

Posted Sunday, May 08, 2016 by PA

Manuel Pellegrini expects his Manchester City side to rediscover their attacking flair against Arsenal this weekend.

City were disappointing in their Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid, struggling to create meaningful chances in either leg of an underwhelming tie.

They went down with barely a whimper at the Bernabeu in midweek, with the 1-0 aggregate scoreline flattering Pellegrini's men.

City have now won just one of their last five games but Pellegrini wants that put right at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Victory over the Gunners would lift City back above Arsene Wenger's side into third in the Barclays Premier League.

Pellegrini said: "I always visualise the positive things - to try to win the game against Arsenal that allows us to be in the third position.

"To play well, that is also very important. We didn't play well against Real Madrid and I don't like to play in that way.

"I expect us to recover our potential in attacking, that was our problem. It is a problem maybe none of the media expected we were going to have against Real Madrid, and it was the thing I was more sure of, that we were going to score a goal in some moments.

"I hope on Sunday we will continue being the 'most scoring' team in the Premier League for the third season in a row. We want to score goals and try to defend in the same way as we did against Real Madrid."

City are without captain Vincent Kompany, who is still waiting to learn the extent of the groin injury he suffered at the Bernabeu. Pablo Zabaleta and David Silva remain on the sidelines while Aleksandar Kolarov also has a knock.

Manchester-born Danny Welbeck is likely to lead the line for Arsenal and is hoping to take advantage of any despondency among the hosts.

Victory for Arsenal would ensure they finish above City, and former Manchester United forward Welbeck is hoping for a memorable return having missed the trip to the Etihad Stadium last season.

He said: "For them to be going into a Champions League semi-final second leg and having the opportunity to progress to the final is a major situation. Them not qualifying will put a bit of a downer on their confidence but City have a great squad, a great team and have great players in and around the whole club.

"There's a lot of players who can come in on the weekend and provide a very stern test for Arsenal.

"I've got some good memories (playing against Man City), and a couple of bad ones as well. I think it's important to focus on the next game coming and make sure that it's another good memory."