Why Wenger, Mourinho should switch notepads for Sunday's squabbles

Sunday's two titanic tussles follow a Saturday that offered some rather dull meetings. But will these standout clashes be one-sided or over-conservative affairs?

theScore explains why Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho should peek over each other's shoulders for their respective tests this weekend.

Manchester City vs. Arsenal (10:15 a.m. ET)

The last big-six bout for Manchester City was against Chelsea, a side which, like Arsenal, sets up with a back-three and requires serious effort from its wing-backs. Pep Guardiola masterminded a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge, nullifying a counter-attack by bulking up the middle with inverted full-backs and Fernandinho, and exploiting gaps behind the wing-backs with lateral movement from Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva.

If the Spanish tactician restores this pattern, Arsenal may be in trouble.

Hector Bellerin's attacking principles would make him the most vulnerable in this setup, and there is little in reserve to replace him. Bellerin can be restrained in a narrow, defensive quartet, however, emulating the "parking the bus" tag that haunts Mourinho. It means the back-four will not be outnumbered by Guardiola's advanced trio, and with wingers prepared to track back - potentially Alex Iwobi and Alexis Sanchez - and two defensive midfielders, the threats of De Bruyne, Silva, Fabian Delph, and Kyle Walker can be dealt with.

The starting formation for the Gunners would be a 4-4-1-1, with Mesut Ozil playing behind Alexandre Lacazette.

This obviously contrasts with Wenger's philosophy of retaining possession and keeping on the front foot, but he should be encouraged to adopt a more defensively aware system from how physicality wobbled City in last April's FA Cup semi-final. The now-departed Gabriel Paulista and Granit Xhaka were at the forefront of Arsenal's stubbornness, helping engineer a 2-1 victory in extra-time.

A Mourinho-esque stalemate away from home this Sunday would be a commendable result against rampant Manchester City - Guardiola's side is averaging 3.5 goals per game in the Premier League - but Wenger must at least show some promise of nicking a goal.

In true Mourinho fashion, Wenger can attempt to capitalise on errors. Just like in his previous two seasons with City, Nicolas Otamendi was showing his tendency to unnecessarily dive into challenges and lose concentration in last weekend's 3-2 win at West Bromwich Albion. The Argentinian would be the player to target.

Chelsea vs. Manchester United (12:30 p.m. ET)

Watching Mourinho negotiate matches against top-six rivals can be boring. His plans ultimately yield results - four points from Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur recently despite counting only one goal over 180 minutes - but are the prominent cause of an increasingly difficult relationship between the Portuguese and Manchester United supporters.

Related: Mourinho declines invitation to meet supporters' trust over criticism

Mourinho will gesture to the results he's plotted in the league so far - enough to sit atop the division at the same stage of last season - as justification for his methods, but a more resounding statement can be made at his former club this weekend.

Chelsea's defending in the Italian capital in midweek was schoolboy stuff. Roma hitman Edin Dzeko needs to be tracked, but Antonio Conte's defenders chased him like a bunch of star-struck stalker-teens pursuing the Bay City Rollers. To spare their blushes, Diego Perotti's shot was sent into a dimension where that reference is still relevant.

This has to encourage Mourinho to be more positive via an attacking outlook bearing traits of his adversary Wenger. At the rate City is picking up points, United needs to win one or two battles away at a big-six bruiser, and Conte's constant shuffling of his back-three behind an area recently vacated by the injured N'Golo Kante has ushered in a period of confusion at Chelsea.

The Blues are helpfully vulnerable in the right wing-back position, switching it between Cesar Azpilicueta - one of the Premier League's leading defenders who hasn't been at his best in recent weeks - and Davide Zappacosta. This is where Mourinho can call upon Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial, both of whom are capable of eviscerating Chelsea down that flank. United should hit the host there with constant surges upfield.

Mourinho's conservatism often means that Romelu Lukaku is seldom flanked by two pacey forwards. Rashford or Martial are regularly benched for Juan Mata or Henrikh Mkhitaryan, but the wanting cohesion in the opposition's defence needs to be challenged regularly with speed. Rashford and Martial angling runs from out wide in support of Lukaku could leave Chelsea so muddled that there's a drawn-out stoppage in play while Gary Cahill untangles his studs from David Luiz's mop.

But this is Mourinho, and right now he seems content with shunning the attacking traditions of Manchester United for careful defending and efforts to edge wins through wars of attrition. For that reason, United's trip to Chelsea is the least appealing of the two fixtures.

(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)