Preview: Man City v Arsenal | Pre-Match Report | News

The title contenders in the past two Premier League campaigns go head-to-head at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday (4.30pm UK), as we aim to maintain our good recent record against the four-time defending champions.

Last season saw us triumph in the Community Shield before claiming a home win and a draw on our previous visit to the blue half of Manchester, as we continue to close the gap on Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side.

Neither side has tasted defeat in the Premier League in 2024 to further underline their statuses as the best two teams in the country, and while the latest instalment of our rivalry won’t decide the destination of the trophy, victory would prove to be a huge early-season scalp for either Guardiola or Mikel Arteta.

Haaland powers City to top

City come into this game as the only team with a 100% record from their opening four league fixtures, stretching their run to 13 straight Premier League victories and 27 unbeaten. The opening day saw a 2-0 success at Chelsea, before Erling Haaland netted hat-tricks against Ipswich Town and West Ham United in 4-1 and 3-1 wins.

Last week saw the Norwegian hit nine for the campaign already with both goals in a 2-1 win against Brentford - the most any player has registered in the first four games of a Premier League campaign - but City have trailed early in both of their home matches so far.

Both ourselves and Guardiola’s men head into this one off the back of goalless draws against Italian opponents in the Champions League, after City were held at home by Inter Milan on Wednesday. Interestingly, they have only won two of their last seven matches following a midweek European game, drawing five and losing the other to ourselves last term.

What the managers say

Arteta: “We’re expecting a really competitive one. We're going to the home of the champions, the team that I think in Premier League history has been the most consistent ever, not only in terms of results but in terms of dominance and consistent top performances.

“This is the challenge, we have to go there and prove that again we’ve made another step and we can compete.”

Guardiola: “It's always been a tight game in the last years because they are good but we are good too. In many things, high pressing, transition, they are a complete team. That’s why they have been our biggest rivals in last two seasons.

“In terms of the table, it’s not so important. What will be important is when we go to London in the second part of the season. It’s not a motivation that we have to win to be five points ahead after five fixtures! It’s to do a good game.”

Team news

Arteta is set to have the same group of players available to him that he did against Atalanta, with Martin Odegaard (ankle), Mikel Merino (shoulder), Oleksandr Zinchenko (calf), Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) and Kieran Tierney (hamstring) on the sidelines.

However Declan Rice is available again after serving his one-match suspension for his red card against Brighton & Hove Albion last month.

Kevin de Bruyne is Guardiola’s big concern after he came off at half-time against Inter with a knock, and while the Spaniard believes he is improving, it remains to be seen if he’ll feature on Sunday.

Nathan Ake is definitely out after picking up a hamstring injury in action from the Netherlands in the last international break, while Oscar Bobb is a long-term casualty with a leg fracture sustained in training.

Talking tactics

Adrian Clarke: Guardiola reverted to a 4-2-3-1 last time out against Brentford, having started the campaign in his favoured 3-2-4-1, so we can’t say with any certainty how City will line up. Last season in their meetings with us, he did prefer a back four.

Turnovers have been an area of supreme strength for the champions this season, so we must take great care in possession, especially inside our own half. City scored from quick transitions against Chelsea, West Ham and Ipswich, and that will give them plenty of encouragement to press us on Sunday.

In previous meetings Arteta has encouraged his players to bypass the press with longer passes. In our goalless draw in March, 17.3% of our passing was classified as long. We must also be wary not to be caught with a high line. City have released the ruthless Haaland for a stream of 1v1s already this term, and in the Brentford win, Ederson caught their opponents on the hop by launching a 70-yard pass for the Norwegian to run onto and score. When we press, or if we go man to man from restarts, we must not leave the Norwegian one-on-one. 

I expect us to sit off in a lowish block and hold a compact shape. The key to claiming a famous victory will be to defend with great discipline, while also offering punch on the counter-attack. Inter Milan showed in midweek that you can create chances against City by playing through the thirds on the break. I believe we have the quality to replicate that, but we must be clinical when those opportunities arise.
 

Facts and stats

We have won 59 points from a possible 66 in 2024 (P22 W19 D2 L1), conceding just 10 goals and keeping 14 clean sheets in the process.

We could become the first side in Premier League history to go 12 successive matches on the road without falling behind.

We are looking to go four consecutive games without defeat against Man City for the first time since March 2014 – May 2016 (6 in a row), while we last kept three successive clean sheets against the Citizens in January 2011.

We have won 99 of our 211 meetings with Manchester City in all competitions. We’ve only reached triple figures for victories against Everton (111), while it’s the most defeats City have suffered against an opponent in their history.

Haaland has scored eight goals in his last three Premier League games, netting hat-tricks against Ipswich and West Ham, and a brace against Brentford. In Premier League history, only Luis Suarez has scored multiple goals in four consecutive appearances in December 2013.

Bukayo Saka has assisted a goal in all four games so far. In Premier League history, only Thierry Henry (2004/05) has provided an assist in each of a team’s first five matches.

Raheem Sterling has scored 52 Premier League goals at the Etihad Stadium, with only Sergio Aguero managing more (106). Indeed, Sterling netted home and away against the Citizens for Chelsea last term.

David Raya is unbeaten in his last four Premier League appearances against Man City, keeping a clean sheet in each of his last three. The last keeper to keep four consecutive was Edwin van der Sar for Man Utd between November 2008 – November 2010.

Thomas Partey saw his debut, 50th and 100th Arsenal appearances all come against Manchester City. Should he feature in this game, he will make his 100th Premier League appearance.

Match officials

For the third season in a row and the fifth time in his career, Michael Oliver will referee one of our games against City. He oversaw our 1-0 home success last term, with our only other victory in those games coming in the 2014 Community Shield at Wembley.

He was the man in the middle for our win at Aston Villa last month, which is one of 11 successes from the last 13 under his watch. City meanwhile have won 17 of the last 20 Oliver has officiated, only losing to ourselves and Liverpool in that time, stretching back to October 2020.

Referee: Michael Oliver
Assistants: Stuart Burt, Dan Cook
Fourth official: Andy Madley
VAR: John Brooks
Assistant VAR: Richard West

Recent visits to the Etihad

The Etihad is a bogey ground for us, but last season saw us get our first point there since May 2016 courtesy of a hard-fought 0-0 draw.

That 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. You have to go back to January 2015 for the last time we tasted victory, when a Santi Cazorla penalty and an Olivier Giroud header took all three points.

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.

Live coverage

Tune into Arsenal.com and the official app from 4.25pm UK time for live commentary of the top-of-the-table clash, with Dan Roebuck and Adrian Clarke guiding you through the action.

You can also find out which broadcasters are showing the action live, wherever you are in the world.