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Can Carlos Tevez supply City's spark against Arsenal?

Is it time for Roberto Mancini to set free Carlos Tevez to rescue Manchester City's faltering title challenge?

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Alan Smith discusses tactics for Sunday's big match

So is it time? Is it time for Roberto Mancini to set free Carlos Tevez to rescue Manchester City's faltering title challenge? Maybe so, even if the striker's return would leave a bitter taste in the mouth of any football person with proper principles. But sometimes a manager has to swallow his pride and think purely about what's best for the team.

And in this case, ahead of tomorrow's (Sunday's) game at Arsenal, Mancini will have to decide whether to persevere with Mario Balotelli as well as hoping Sergio Aguero can return to answer the call. Failing that, Edin Dzeko would have to do something he hasn't done for a while - look like the potent centre-forward he did between August and November.

When Tevez first returned to these shores from his extended golfing break, Mancini insisted the player would need to be introduced as a substitute before he was fit enough to play a full 90 minutes. Well, the Argentine has now jumped off the bench in the last three matches to accrue more than an hour of useful action. Add to that his extra work on the training ground and he must be fairly close to making the cut.

If he does play, Arsenal's centre-halves, Thomas Vermaelen and Laurent Koscielny, have got to make sure they do not fall into the trap, as sometimes happens, of getting too tight, because Tevez likes nothing better than using his bullish strength to roll his man and play in a team-mate. When that move looks on the cards, Arsenal's full-backs must be in a position to tuck round as cover - something they don't always do - to stop people such as David Silva and Samir Nasri slipping through (Fig 1).

Going the other way, Arsenal might fancy their chances of finding space in midfield, where City were strangely lethargic against Sunderland last week. Neither Yaya Toure nor Nigel de Jong were anywhere near their best in guarding the space in front of their back four.

If that happens again, Arsene Wenger's players are more than capable of making City pay with midfield runners arriving from deep. When they are playing well, this is Arsenal's great strength - flooding the areas around Robin van Persie (Fig 2).

The quick-witted Tomas Rosicky can certainly do that and so can Mikel Arteta, a solid character who has been a really good addition to the dressing room as well as the pitch.

This should be quite a game, given what's at stake. Arsenal lie neck and neck with Tottenham in the race for third place while City simply cannot afford any more slip-ups. Time, perhaps, for Tevez to give something back.

VILLA NEED TO GET GOALS

Gunners' full-backs must be willing to stop Silva and Nasri breaking through if Argentine rolls his man

All of my Aston Villa-supporting mates have been nervous this week. Could their team possibly get dragged into the relegation scrap, having proved toothless up front for the majority of this campaign?

I tried to reassure them. "No chance," I said, while thinking back to seasons when a surprise team has got involved at the wrong end of the table. And it's not as if Villa have enjoyed much luck. Injuries to key players such as Darren Bent and Richard Dunne were followed up by the awful news that captain Stiliyan Petrov is fighting acute leukaemia.

In 'Stan's' absence, Gabriel Agbonlahor takes the armband for today's (Saturday's) match at Liverpool. To be honest, the choice of captaincy surprised me a bit. Agbonlahor, after all, isn't known for his stirring rhetoric or his ability to inspire as a natural leader.

Alex McLeish, however, sees something in the lad. Perhaps he's hoping the reponsibility will spur the striker on. Without a league goal since early November, this would be a good time for Agbonlahor to rediscover his touch.

Villa fans have got twitchy because, below them, Bolton, QPR and Wigan have all picked up points to close the gap. Wigan winning at Anfield and Rangers overcoming Liverpool and Arsenal. These results show that we've got to that stage of the season when a hint of desperation produces shock results.

Might we see something similar today, then? What price Wigan prevailing at Stamford Bridge or QPR grabbing something at Old Trafford? It doesn't seem likely, but we all know better than to rule it out.

 

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