After last weekend\u2019s 3-0 success against Chelsea, City will be eyeing the chance to move level on points with us at the top by the time we\u2019re next in league action, as they have a rearranged fixture at Burnley on Wednesday due to their FA Cup commitments. <\/p>\n
Guardiola\u2019s team have lost just one of their last 19 Premier League games, and are unbeaten in their last nine, their joint-longest unbeaten streak of the campaign. However draws have stalled their progress at times, having stuttered at home against Nottingham Forest last month before leaving West Ham United with a solitary point.<\/p>\n
But their three games since have seen them defeat us at Wembley, thrash Liverpool 4-0 in the FA Cup quarter-final and then cruise to victory at Stamford Bridge, easing the pain of exiting the Champions League at the round of 16 stage at the hands of Real Madrid once again.<\/p>\n
WHAT THE MANAGERS SAY<\/h2>\n\n<\/article>\nArteta: <\/strong>\u201cWe have earned the right to be in this position, to be challenging and with the possibility to win and the opportunity to win on Sunday, arguably against the best team and the best manager that this league has ever seen. That’s a huge privilege, and we cannot wait to play the game. <\/p>\n“We’re going to prepare the game to win it, that’s for sure, and we see that as a big opportunity for us. We\u2019re not going to spend one second talking about that (drawing). We prepare every game to win, that’s where we are and we’re going to continue to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Read more<\/span> <\/p>\n Every word of Arteta’s pre-Manchester City presser <\/span>
\n <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\n\n\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\nGuardiola:<\/strong> “If we lose, it is over. But the other two results, knowing that Arsenal didn’t win against Bournemouth, we still have games to play. Six games is a lot, given our calendar especially.<\/p>\n\u201cI said today to the players, it is just a football game and we have to approach it like a football game. If you get distracted by emotions, that is how you lose focus. What is the target? It is to perform well and that is exactly what you have got to do and all the aspects required to challenge a team like Arsenal.\u201d<\/p>\n
TEAM NEWS<\/h2>\n\n\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\nAfter he was forced off during Wednesday night’s draw against Sporting Lisbon, Noni Madueke will continue to be assessed before the game, with Mikel hoping it wouldn’t be too serious. The same goes for Riccardo Calafoiri, Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber who are all edging closer to returns.<\/p>\n
However Bukayo Saka is definitely out with his Achilles injury, and joins Mikel Merino on the absentee list.<\/p>\n
Ruben Dias remains out of the game with the hamstring issue that caused him to miss the Carabao Cup final meeting, however Nico O\u2019Reilly is available despite being subbed off against Chelsea on Sunday after feeling an issue with the same muscle.<\/p>\n
Josko Gvardiol also remains sidelined as he recovers from a fractured leg, while John Stones sustained a calf issue on England duty last month and hasn\u2019t featured since.<\/p>\n
TALKING TACTICS<\/h2>\n\n\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\nAdrian Clarke: <\/em>Guardiola\u2019s decision to switch from 4-1-3-2 to 4-2-3-1 in the Carabao Cup final was a smart call that unlocked City\u2019s attacking excellence. Deploying Jeremy Doku wide on the left, with Antoine Semenyo hugging the opposite touchline, there has been greater width to their play, freeing up central pockets of space for No.10 Rayan Cherki and allowing full-backs Nico O\u2019Reilly and Matheus Nunes to underlap.<\/p>\nCherki is the man in form, and given freedom to roam, the France international is almost impossible to man-mark, so we must close down his space as a collective. If you give Cherki space to look up and play a pass, he will hurt you, while he has also made six assists from ball carries.<\/p>\n
Guardiola\u2019s four-man defensive screen when we tried to play out from the back at Wembley was a ploy we never really got to grips with, so faster restarts, playing through the first line of defence, or clipping passes over them could be fruitful. Passes over the top and counters tend to be the most effective ways to open City up, who squeeze up and commit bodies forward, so we need to be fast and efficient on transitions. <\/p>\n
We cannot go gung-ho, but sharp, progressive passes will cause them issues. Out of possession, we must track runners with the utmost concentration, and where possible, disrupt City\u2019s flow by getting tight to them inside our half.<\/p>\n
FACTS AND STATS<\/h2>\n\n\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\nWe have lost just two of our last 30 away Premier League games (W16 D12), going unbeaten in our last eight since a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa in December.<\/p>\n
Man City are unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League home games, since losing 2-0 against Tottenham in their opening match at the Etihad this term.<\/p>\n
City have failed to win each of their last three Premier League games against teams starting the day top of the table, failing to score in all three matches (0-0 v us in March 2024 and 0-2 home\/away against Liverpool last season).<\/p>\n
When taking into account their final six games in a Premier League season (MD33 onwards), we have won nine of our last 12 matches, with our only defeat coming at home to Bournemouth last season.<\/p>\n
Since the start of February, no City player has scored more goals in all competitions than Nico O\u2019Reilly (6), who netted both goals in their 2-0 League Cup final win over us last month.<\/p>\n
Rayan Cherki is averaging an assist every 138 minutes in the Premier League this season (10 assists in 1,384 minutes). Of players to play 1,000+ minutes in a single campaign, only Cesc Fabregas in 2016\/17 (111) and Kevin De Bruyne in 2023\/24 (123) have had a better average.<\/p>\n
Eberechi Eze has either scored (2) or assisted (1) a goal in each of his last three appearances against City in all competitions, setting up Gabriel Martinelli\u2019s 90th-minute equaliser in the reverse fixture.<\/p>\n
Erling Haaland has had a hand in seven goals across his seven Premier League appearances against us (5 goals, 2 assists), netting in each of his last three against the Gunners.<\/p>\n
MATCH OFFICIALS<\/h2>\n\n\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\nAnthony Taylor has been handed control of this game, the fourth time he has refereed us this season, which has seen us beat Fulham, take a point at Chelsea, and the last being the goalless draw against Liverpool in January. We are unbeaten on the last 11 occasions he has refereed us going back to May 2023, a run that includes a 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium two years ago.<\/p>\n
The Cheshire official has overseen three City games this term, including both Manchester derbies which brought a win and a loss, plus a victory over Bournemouth – one of only two wins from the last six that Taylor has been in charge of. <\/p>\n
Referee: <\/strong>Anthony Taylor
Assistants: <\/strong>Gary Beswick, Ian Hussin
Fourth official: <\/strong>Paul Tierney
OUR:<\/strong> John Brooks
Assistant VAR: <\/strong>Stuart Burt<\/p>\nRECENT VISITS TO CITY<\/h2>\n\n<\/article>\nDespite not winning at the Etihad since January 2015, when a Santi Cazorla penalty and an Olivier Giroud header took all three points, the last two seasons have seen us come away with a point. <\/p>\n
In September 2024 a Calafiori wondergoal cancelled out Erling Haaland\u2019s opener, and after Gabriel headed us in front, Leandro Trossard was controversially sent off on the stroke of half-time. We nearly held on for the win, only for Stones to equalise in second-half stoppage time.<\/p>\n
A 0-0 draw the previous March ended a run of eight defeats in a row in all competitions, with a 1-0 FA Cup fourth-round exit followed by a 4-1 defeat during the back end of the 2022\/23 campaign. We have won at the Etihad seven times since it was opened in 2004, although five of those came in our first six visits before the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Read more<\/span> <\/p>\n From the vault: Five great wins at Man City <\/span>
\n <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\n<\/p>\n
LIVE COVERAGE<\/h2>\n\n\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\nTune into Live From N5 on The Arsenal app <\/strong>(download now on iOS<\/a>\/Android<\/a>) <\/strong>just before kick-off to hear live commentary of the game provided by Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke, who will guide you through all the action if you\u2019re out and about.<\/p>\nYou can also find out <\/em>which broadcasters are showing the game live<\/em> wherever you are in the world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n Read more<\/span> <\/p>\n How to watch Manchester City v Arsenal live on TV <\/span>
\n <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\nCopyright 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A titanic title tussle awaits on Sunday (4.30pm UK) as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Arteta: <\/strong>\u201cWe have earned the right to be in this position, to be challenging and with the possibility to win and the opportunity to win on Sunday, arguably against the best team and the best manager that this league has ever seen. That’s a huge privilege, and we cannot wait to play the game. <\/p>\n “We’re going to prepare the game to win it, that’s for sure, and we see that as a big opportunity for us. We\u2019re not going to spend one second talking about that (drawing). We prepare every game to win, that’s where we are and we’re going to continue to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Read more<\/span> <\/p>\n Guardiola:<\/strong> “If we lose, it is over. But the other two results, knowing that Arsenal didn’t win against Bournemouth, we still have games to play. Six games is a lot, given our calendar especially.<\/p>\n \u201cI said today to the players, it is just a football game and we have to approach it like a football game. If you get distracted by emotions, that is how you lose focus. What is the target? It is to perform well and that is exactly what you have got to do and all the aspects required to challenge a team like Arsenal.\u201d<\/p>\n After he was forced off during Wednesday night’s draw against Sporting Lisbon, Noni Madueke will continue to be assessed before the game, with Mikel hoping it wouldn’t be too serious. The same goes for Riccardo Calafoiri, Martin Odegaard and Jurrien Timber who are all edging closer to returns.<\/p>\n However Bukayo Saka is definitely out with his Achilles injury, and joins Mikel Merino on the absentee list.<\/p>\n Ruben Dias remains out of the game with the hamstring issue that caused him to miss the Carabao Cup final meeting, however Nico O\u2019Reilly is available despite being subbed off against Chelsea on Sunday after feeling an issue with the same muscle.<\/p>\n Josko Gvardiol also remains sidelined as he recovers from a fractured leg, while John Stones sustained a calf issue on England duty last month and hasn\u2019t featured since.<\/p>\n Adrian Clarke: <\/em>Guardiola\u2019s decision to switch from 4-1-3-2 to 4-2-3-1 in the Carabao Cup final was a smart call that unlocked City\u2019s attacking excellence. Deploying Jeremy Doku wide on the left, with Antoine Semenyo hugging the opposite touchline, there has been greater width to their play, freeing up central pockets of space for No.10 Rayan Cherki and allowing full-backs Nico O\u2019Reilly and Matheus Nunes to underlap.<\/p>\n Cherki is the man in form, and given freedom to roam, the France international is almost impossible to man-mark, so we must close down his space as a collective. If you give Cherki space to look up and play a pass, he will hurt you, while he has also made six assists from ball carries.<\/p>\n Guardiola\u2019s four-man defensive screen when we tried to play out from the back at Wembley was a ploy we never really got to grips with, so faster restarts, playing through the first line of defence, or clipping passes over them could be fruitful. Passes over the top and counters tend to be the most effective ways to open City up, who squeeze up and commit bodies forward, so we need to be fast and efficient on transitions. <\/p>\n We cannot go gung-ho, but sharp, progressive passes will cause them issues. Out of possession, we must track runners with the utmost concentration, and where possible, disrupt City\u2019s flow by getting tight to them inside our half.<\/p>\n We have lost just two of our last 30 away Premier League games (W16 D12), going unbeaten in our last eight since a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa in December.<\/p>\n Man City are unbeaten in their last 14 Premier League home games, since losing 2-0 against Tottenham in their opening match at the Etihad this term.<\/p>\n City have failed to win each of their last three Premier League games against teams starting the day top of the table, failing to score in all three matches (0-0 v us in March 2024 and 0-2 home\/away against Liverpool last season).<\/p>\n When taking into account their final six games in a Premier League season (MD33 onwards), we have won nine of our last 12 matches, with our only defeat coming at home to Bournemouth last season.<\/p>\n Since the start of February, no City player has scored more goals in all competitions than Nico O\u2019Reilly (6), who netted both goals in their 2-0 League Cup final win over us last month.<\/p>\n Rayan Cherki is averaging an assist every 138 minutes in the Premier League this season (10 assists in 1,384 minutes). Of players to play 1,000+ minutes in a single campaign, only Cesc Fabregas in 2016\/17 (111) and Kevin De Bruyne in 2023\/24 (123) have had a better average.<\/p>\n Eberechi Eze has either scored (2) or assisted (1) a goal in each of his last three appearances against City in all competitions, setting up Gabriel Martinelli\u2019s 90th-minute equaliser in the reverse fixture.<\/p>\n Erling Haaland has had a hand in seven goals across his seven Premier League appearances against us (5 goals, 2 assists), netting in each of his last three against the Gunners.<\/p>\n Anthony Taylor has been handed control of this game, the fourth time he has refereed us this season, which has seen us beat Fulham, take a point at Chelsea, and the last being the goalless draw against Liverpool in January. We are unbeaten on the last 11 occasions he has refereed us going back to May 2023, a run that includes a 0-0 draw at the Etihad Stadium two years ago.<\/p>\n The Cheshire official has overseen three City games this term, including both Manchester derbies which brought a win and a loss, plus a victory over Bournemouth – one of only two wins from the last six that Taylor has been in charge of. <\/p>\n Referee: <\/strong>Anthony Taylor Despite not winning at the Etihad since January 2015, when a Santi Cazorla penalty and an Olivier Giroud header took all three points, the last two seasons have seen us come away with a point. <\/p>\n In September 2024 a Calafiori wondergoal cancelled out Erling Haaland\u2019s opener, and after Gabriel headed us in front, Leandro Trossard was controversially sent off on the stroke of half-time. We nearly held on for the win, only for Stones to equalise in second-half stoppage time.<\/p>\n A 0-0 draw the previous March ended a run of eight defeats in a row in all competitions, with a 1-0 FA Cup fourth-round exit followed by a 4-1 defeat during the back end of the 2022\/23 campaign. We have won at the Etihad seven times since it was opened in 2004, although five of those came in our first six visits before the Abu Dhabi takeover in 2008.<\/p>\n \n Read more<\/span> <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Tune into Live From N5 on The Arsenal app <\/strong>(download now on iOS<\/a>\/Android<\/a>) <\/strong>just before kick-off to hear live commentary of the game provided by Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke, who will guide you through all the action if you\u2019re out and about.<\/p>\n You can also find out <\/em>which broadcasters are showing the game live<\/em> wherever you are in the world.<\/em><\/p>\n \n Read more<\/span> <\/p>\n Copyright 2026 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A titanic title tussle awaits on Sunday (4.30pm UK) as<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/socialsport.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Every word of Arteta’s pre-Manchester City presser <\/span>
\n <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\nTEAM NEWS<\/h2>\n
TALKING TACTICS<\/h2>\n
FACTS AND STATS<\/h2>\n
MATCH OFFICIALS<\/h2>\n
Assistants: <\/strong>Gary Beswick, Ian Hussin
Fourth official: <\/strong>Paul Tierney
OUR:<\/strong> John Brooks
Assistant VAR: <\/strong>Stuart Burt<\/p>\nRECENT VISITS TO CITY<\/h2>\n
From the vault: Five great wins at Man City <\/span>
\n <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\nLIVE COVERAGE<\/h2>\n
How to watch Manchester City v Arsenal live on TV <\/span>
\n <\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n