Arsenal need to find an extra gear against Manchester City

Arsenal will need to improve if they are to get anything from Manchester City on Saturday, with their midweek defeat to Napoli rendering them vulnerable.

It's an unfortunate point to consider that such mundanities might have a drastic effect on the location of silverware at the end of the season, but the fixture list can only be ignored for truly exceptional teams. For others, it almost comes to define a season. While talk of conspiracies and unfair dealings is ridiculous -- a difficult run at one point means an easy run at another -- it can never account for the timing of big games and their potential to influence seasons.