Manchester City have been handed a huge boost ahead of their Premier League trip to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday. Oleksandr Zinchenko came on as a second-half substitute during the midweek Champions League tie versus Dinamo Zagreb returning for the first time since he suffered a knee injury in October and is said to be ready to feature this weekend.
Injuries have been a huge issue for the champions this season and one of the problem areas has been at left-back. Benjamin Mendy hasn’t performed consistently at the level required and Angelino simply hasn’t been good enough when given the opportunity.
Indeed, the 22-year-old could be a huge boost to Pep Guardiola and his Manchester City side as he continued to record some solid defensive stats when playing at the back.
According to the data collected by WhoScored for the 2018/19 Premier League campaign (perhaps his best), Zinchenko managed to achieve an average of 2.4 tackles in his 14 top-flight appearances, 1.4 interceptions and 1.1 clearances.
Where do you see Zinchenko's future?
Left-back
Midfield
TIF Tactics – Who comes in at left-back?
Coincidentally, Zinchenko’s return comes after arguably Mendy’s best performance of the season – giving Pep Guardiola a difficult decision to make. The Ukrainian’s fitness levels at present may mean he is unable to play from the start and that could be a deciding factor when the boss is considering who should start at left-back.
City will face a re-energised Arsenal team fresh off the back of their first Premier League victory under Freddie Ljungberg and they will be confident of causing Guardiola’s make-shift defence some problems.
Zinchenko played in the midfield when he came on as a substitute midweek so it will be interesting to see where he plays if utilised this weekend.