By Seyifunmi Awobiyi
The clash of the season could be right before us on Wednesday evening at the Etihad when the current top two teams in the Premier League face off for an ‘advantage’ that could as well make the difference in their long-season push for the EPL crown.
The match becomes overwhelmingly crucial after the Gunners dropped six points in their last three games, consequently having a high eight-point lead shrink to five.
Defending champions City are, however, unscathed in their last six consecutive league games winning all matches since February and unflagging in their ambition to displace Arsenal from the summit of the table.
Team News
Nathaniel Ake has been confirmed will not be available for Man City with Aymeirc Laporte most likely to play in his stead.
The North Londoners, on the other hand, will endure being without William Saliba in the defense as the Frenchman is still out with a back injury.
Head-to-head
Previous encounters between both sides have never seen Arsenal beat Manchester City in the league since January 2015 which was a 2-0 win at the Etihad.
The last five meetings have seen the Citizens victorious, recording 10 goals in all.
15/02/2023: Premier League: Arsenal 1-3 Manchester City
27/01/2023: FA Cup: Manchester City 1-0 Arsenal
1/1/ 2022: Premier League: Arsenal 1-2 Manchester City
28/8/2021: Premier League: Manchester City 5-0 Arsenal
21/2/ 2021: Premier League: Arsenal 0-1 Manchester City
Predicted line-ups
Manchester City (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias, John Stones; Rodri, İlkay Gundogan; Riyad Mahrez, Kevin de Bruyne, Julian Alvarez, Jack Grealish; Erling Haaland
Arsenal (4-3-3): Aaron Ramsdale; Oleksandr Zinchenko, Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhães, Ben White; Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Fablo Vieria; Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard, Gabriel Martinelli.