Unai Emery has proven himself to be a coach of many shapes and systems in his short time in England, but he is not yet chameleonic enough to consider parking the metaphorical bus at the Etihad on Sunday afternoon.

A blueprint of how to beat this season’s Manchester City has been set by Crystal Palace, Leicester City and Newcastle United in recent weeks, yet Emery will do things his way as he looks to end Arsenal’s terrible away form against the league’s biggest sides.

The ‘Emery Way’ has not always been clear in the Spaniard’s first season in the Premier League, when Arsenal have taken up more shapes than a Parisian mime artist.

There are central tenets to which he is steadfastly devoted, though — playing with intensity, pressing the opposition and, in his words, “imposing” their style on a match — and he will not compromise in the face of one the most formidable attacks in Europe.

Those all-action principles will underpin Arsenal’s efforts against a City side that has been troubled recently by more passive, deep-lying defences. This week, Newcastle beat City with only 24 per cent of the ball.