Fans will flock the Emirates Stadium on Sunday for a fierce Premier League contest, as third placed Arsenal welcome defending champions and league leaders Manchester City in a top-of-table affair.
Both sides played away from home in the the Champions League in midweek, as the Gunners were beaten 2-1 by Lens- their first loss of the season, while the Citizens left it late to overcome RB Leipzig 3-1.
From setting a new club clean sheet record away from home in the Premier League to suffering an agonizing first defeat of the season in northern France, Arsenal’s unbeaten sequence deservedly came to an end against French Ligue 1 runners-up on Tuesday.
Arteta refused to make excuses for his side’s tepid display on an evening where Bukayo Saka was also withdrawn with a first-half injury, capping off a nightmarish evening for the Gunners.
The following day, Manchester City toiled against Leipzig in Germany and scored two goals just six minutes from time to get the win, after the match had been stuck at 1-1 for 84 minutes. The result helped the Citizens return to winning ways after two consecutive domestic defeats.
Arsenal have since last season lost only twice at home in the league , and one of those losses was a 3-1 defeat in February to Sunday’s opponents. Arsenal are yet to keep a clean sheet at home this season.
Manchester City come in this fixture with pride and pedigree owing to the fact that they have beaten Arsenal in each of their previous 12 Premier League meetings. This is Arsenal’s longest losing streak to a single opponent in league history.
The last time these two clubs met was in the Community Shield in August. Arsenal came out victorious on penalties after equalizing deep in stoppage time.
Can the Gunners use that as motivation to end their winless streak against the defending champions?
Team news
Bukayo Saka has been receiving knocks match in match out and fans called for his rest. However, his importance to Arsenal is so high that manager Mikel Arteta played him consistently, and this might have backfired as he was forced off in the first half in midweek.
As such, the 22-year-old is a doubt for this fixture, even though he was included in Gary Southgate’s England squad for the upcoming international break.
Gabriel Martinelli is on the brink of overcoming his hamstring issue and Jurrien Timber is still long sidelined.
For Manchester City, Rodri is a big miss, as he serves the last of his three-match suspension. John Stones is also a doubt, even though he was on the Manchester City bench in midweek, while Kevin De Bruyne is also a long-term absentee.
