Tony Adams fears Man City will beat Arsenal if Pep Guardiola makes one key tactical decision

Arsenal legend Tony Adams fears Manchester City will beat the Gunners if Pep Guardiola makes one crucial tactical decision in Wednesday's huge Premier League clash.

League leaders Arsenal host City at the Emirates, with just three points separating the two sides in the table.

Defending champions City will move above Arsenal on goal difference if they win in north London.

Guardiola's side head into the match off the back of a 3-1 win over Aston Villa, while Arsenal were held to a frustrating 1-1 draw by Brentford in their last game.

In the victory over Villa, Guardiola unusually opted to play Bernardo Silva on the left of City's defence.

It has since been described as an 'inverted full-back' role, with Silva at times moving into midfield to partner Rodri.

Adams: Pep must show Arsenal respect

Former Arsenal captain Adams says Guardiola cannot afford to adopt such unorthodox tactics against the Gunners, with Bukayo Saka operating on the right wing.

But he believes that if Guardiola plays Ake on City's left, instead of Silva, the visitors could end up winning the match.

"If Pep Guardiola does not pay Arsenal the respect they deserve, Bukayo Saka will tear his Manchester City side apart tomorrow," Adams wrote in his column for The Sun.

"I have no idea what Pep's trying to do with his defence this season and it’s almost as if he’s trying to throw the title away. So it will be fascinating to see what he tries tomorrow. If he puts Nathan Ake at left-back and plays his best back four, I think City will win the game.

"But I'm not convinced that's what he'll do, and if he continues to mess about with his formation he'll have no one to deal with Saka, who has been brilliant all season for both Arsenal and England.

"Stop Saka and you stop Arsenal. It's as simple as that because every time an opposing left-back has a good game against them, they struggle. But Guardiola has just allowed Joao Cancelo to leave and I don't think he actually knows his best team any more.

"He's got the ammunition to beat every side in the country but there have been a number of times this season when he’s tried to get clever with his tactics and it backfired on him.

"It's almost as if his arrogance is saying 'we don't need a left-back, I can put Kevin De Bruyne on the bench, we can have a completely lop-sided formation and we can still win the game'.

"So if I was playing against this City team I'd keep getting the ball out to Saka to tear their left-back spot to pieces and smash them for being disrespectful."