'A Guardiola win could shake things up mentally at the Emirates'
· Yahoo Sports
Having crashed out of the Champions League to Real Madrid on Tuesday night, and fallen further behind Arsenal in the Premier League title race owing to a draw at West Ham, things are pretty gloomy around the Etihad.
Manchester City need a lift on and off the pitch, and what better opportunity than silverware for the first time since the Community Shield triumph prior to the start of last season.
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Whilst defeat in Europe is an obvious blow, Pep Guardiola is right. There remains plenty for City to play for and the club's supporters will have a huge role in any success. The players need these fans and a win on Sunday would go a long way in driving them towards perhaps an FA Cup, or possibly - albeit unlikely - a Premier League title race recovery.
It is, of course, a huge shame for City that they don't find themselves a little closer to Arsenal in the top flight and perhaps if we were talking about a six-point gap, then a win on Sunday could have done all sorts for morale. That being said, nobody can underestimate how much a Guardiola win could shake things up mentally at the Emirates - perhaps causing them to question their own trophy-winning abilities when push comes to shove.
What City certainly do not want is another defeat, in what could be a third successive negative result and arguably the third match in a row that ended silverware in a competition. Victory for Arsenal could be the final couple of inches for City's rising white flag in a season that appears to be tumbling towards a damning conclusion.
For all the hope and optimism Guardiola speaks about for the future, and in many ways he is right, defeat at Wembley may lead to an urgent wake-up call about just how far along this Manchester City side are in its "rebuild" and possibly raise questions over just how long the Catalan may want to go on given the struggles at play.
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