Tony Pulis is not the sort to dress up a title race, and he did not start here. Writing ahead of Sunday’s massive game between Manchester City and Arsenal, he said he could not wait for the meeting and argued that both sides arrive with so many strengths and so few weaknesses that the match may turn on one simple battle out wide.
Pulis said Arsenal, who have been the best team in the Premier League this season up to now, will need their full-backs to bring their "A game" with them if they are to cope with City’s runners. He said the champions have regained their "X-factor" in recent weeks and now possess fast, skilful wide players who attack defenders directly, the kind he called "leg-beaters".
That matters because Pulis sees the game as a meeting of two elite teams with very different recent histories. Mikel Arteta has won only one major trophy since taking charge of Arsenal in December 2019, the 2020 FA Cup, while Pep Guardiola has built a record at City since arriving in the summer of 2016 that includes six Premier League titles, one Champions League, two FA Cups and five Carabao Cups.
City’s wide options are central to his argument. Pulis said Riyad Mahrez used to provide the outlet for Guardiola’s side, but that the current group now includes Antoine Semenyo, Jeremy Doku and Rayan Cherki in those areas. City signed Semenyo from Bournemouth for £65m in January, a move that underlines the scale of the resources at Guardiola’s disposal as the race tightens.
There is a small wrinkle in that picture. Pulis said City were written off by media experts before their recent revival, yet they have now returned to the level that makes them dangerous again in the biggest fixtures. That leaves Arsenal facing not just the reigning force of the league, but a side that has rediscovered the kind of threat that can decide a championship run-in in a single afternoon.
If Pulis is right, Sunday will hinge less on shape and possession than on whether Arsenal’s full-backs can survive the first burst of pace City throw at them. That is where the game may be won.