Sunday 18 December 2016 16:00, UK
Manchester City's Super Sunday showdown with Arsenal is a serious test for Pep Guardiola's side - and a big opportunity for Yaya Toure, says Jamie Redknapp.
This is a huge game for both sides but even more so for Manchester City. I still recognise them as flat-track bullies. Yes, they had a good result against United earlier this season, but they failed their first real Premier League test against Chelsea. They played well but didn't get a result.
I think that's a major problem for City. Sometimes you just need to get over the line by winning ugly, but that's something they have really struggled with. They are fine against the lesser teams, but they need to beat their rivals, and now they face Arsenal without Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho or Vincent Kompany.
There are a lot of questions about City that weren't there at the start of the season. It seems an awfully long time ago that people were saying they could perhaps go unbeaten this season. Now, you're not even sure if they can get back-to-back wins.
Their task will be even tougher without Ilkay Gundogan, who is expected to miss the rest of the season. It's a real blow for them, but it's time for Yaya Toure to step up. It's not ideal timing as he has only just come back into the team, but he's a phenomenal player and he suddenly has a huge responsibility.
He should thrive on that. He fell out with the manager earlier this season, but what an opportunity this is for him. There are questions over whether he can get around the pitch, but you can't write him off yet and this is a great chance for him to show that.
I expect he will play a more defensive role than he might prefer, and that means his job might be to look after Mesut Ozil. That won't be easy, especially with City's defence looking so vulnerable at the moment. There's no one who wants to take responsibility, so Toure's leadership could be key.
I'm really not too confident about City's defence after the last few games. I think Thierry Henry would still fancy himself to score against them, so I'm not sure how they will cope against Alexis Sanchez!
And that's not the only area of their team that concerns me. When you think about how much they have spent, they have definitely left themselves short up front as well. They are asking Kelechi Iheanacho, who is just 20 years old, to fill in for Aguero.
I know he's a good player but it's a lot to ask for a young player to come in and save the day. It's a very difficult role that one up front on your own, so the likes of Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva will have to help him out on Sunday.
On the other hand, Arsenal have problems of their own at the back. When I look at Laurent Koscielny and Shkodran Mustafi, I see two fantastic defenders who are probably the best centre-back partners they have had since the Invincibles, but they lose for Mustafi for one game and they are already conceding poor goals from set pieces.
From a neutral's point of view, this is set up to be a fantastic game. Both managers like to attack and the two teams are not great defensively, so it should be very open. I think it will be a draw, but I'm sure we'll see goals.
