In a crunch English Premier League (EPL) match, defending champions Manchester City will host Arsenal. It has all the markings of a classic match.
Preview
Pep Guardiola's City need a quick response from his side against Arsenal to show that Manchester City's challenge for the Premier League title remains intact.
Guardiola can be thankful City will go into the match at the Etihad Stadium only five points behind leaders Liverpool.
It could well have been worse after a lethargic display brought a surprising 2-1 defeat at relegation-threatened Newcastle on Tuesday, but Jurgen Klopp's side struggled to take advantage as they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Leicester the following night.
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City could argue Tuesday's defeat was a blip, given they had won their previous eight matches, but three of those victories were in cup games against lower-division opposition.
A more worrying statistic for City manager Guardiola is that his team have lost four of their past nine league fixtures and that three of those defeats have been against teams who started this weekend in the bottom half of the table.
While Guardiola did not make any major signings during January, Arsenal could give a debut to former City youth midfielder Denis Suarez, who joined on Thursday from Barcelona for the rest of the season.
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Arsenal manager Unai Emery is still looking for consistency from his players; a 22-match unbeaten sequence in the autumn suggested this might be a successful season, but since that run ended on December 16, Gunners have gone out of both domestic cup competitions.
All You Need To Know About The Match:
Match: Manchester City vs Arsenal, EPL Round 25
Date: February 3 (Sunday)
Time: 10:00 PM IST
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
TV Guide: Star Sports Network
Live Streaming: Hotstar
League Positions
Manchester City - 3rd (56 points from 24 matches with 18 wins and two draws and four draws, with a goal difference of 44);
Arsenal - 4th (47 points from 24 matches with 14 wins and five draws and five draws, with a goal difference of 17 )
Form Guide (Latest first)
Manchester City - LWWWW
Arsenal - WWLWL
Head-to-head
The two clubs have met 43 times in EPL, with the Gunners winnings 23 times. City have won 10, while 10 matches have ended in draws.
But, City have won their last three league meetings, including their 2-0 victory in the season's first leg at the Emirates.
Overall, they have met 195 times, with Arsenal winning 96 times as against City's 54.
Key Facts
- City can win a fourth consecutive top-flight game against the Gunners, a feat they achieved between 1935 and 1937.
- City have scored 24 unanswered goals in their last four home matches and won the previous five games at Etihad.
- City have dropped 16 points this season, two more than they did in total last season. And they have lost four of their last nine league games, as many defeats as in their previous 72 matches (W56, D12).
- Pep Guardiola is unbeaten in 11 games as a manager against Unai Emery (W7, D4).
- Arsenal are the only side yet to keep a league clean sheet away from home this season.
- But they have lost the last four meetings in all competitions.
- And the Gunners are winless in their last five top-flight away games (D2, L3).
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Key Players
Sergio Aguero - The City forward has scored in seven of his last 11 matches against Arsenal in all competitions.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - The Gunners frontman is the second-most prolific scorer this season with 15 goals, behind Liverpool's Mo Salah (16).
Injury Updates
City goalie Ederson is likely to miss the match after suffering a bad cut against Newcastle. In that case, Aro Muric is likely to come as the custodian. Claudio Bravo is already injured. Benjamin Mendy and Vincent Kompany are also not fully fit.
But Arsenal's have bigger concerns when it comes to player availability. Their defensive injury crisis continues with Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Sokratis Papastathopolous still out. Danny Welbeck is also out and Mesut Ozil may not feature against a brutally fast City side. The good news, however, is that Laurent Koscielny, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ainsley Maitland-Niles may return to action.
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Likely XIs
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Danilo, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva, Sterling, Aguero, Sane
Arsenal: Leno, Lichtsteiner, Mustafi, Koscielny, Kolasinac, Torreira, Xhaka, Iwobi, Ramsey, Aubameyang, Lacazette
Referee: Martin Atkinson
(With Agency inputs)
