Arsenal’s trip to Manchester City on Wednesday has been circled for months as a potentially decisive date in the Premier League title race, but the Gunners must now wrestle back a huge swing in momentum towards the defending champions.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal travel to the Etihad Stadium five points clear at the top of the table, yet many see the title as City’s to lose as they have two games in hand and home advantage in midweek.
Arsenal – looking for the first Premier League title since 2004 – could have amassed an 11-point advantage in recent weeks to pile the pressure on Pep Guardiola’s City, who are in contention to win a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup treble.
Instead, Arteta’s young guns have shown their inexperience in the run-in as three consecutive draws have gifted City back control of their own destiny.
The English champions have won all 11 of their games at the Etihad in 2023, scoring 43 goals in the process.
City have a doubt over in-form defender Nathan Ake but, after Phil Foden’s return at the weekend, they otherwise have a clean bill of health.
Arsenal’s defender William Saliba’s recent absence due to a back injury has proven to be a massive blow, with the Frenchman not expected back in time for Wednesday. Granit Xhaka is also doubtful due to illness.
Head-to-head
Arsenal have lost their last seven meetings with City in all competitions and have not won at Manchester City in the league since 2015.
Manchester City have beaten Arsenal twice this season, 1-0 in the FA Cup fourth round and 3-1 in the Premier League at the Emirates Stadium in February.
Guardiola: “Wednesday is a final against a team that has been the best team in England so far and is five points ahead of us. It’s a massive, important game for us. We know winning will give us a step to putting it completely in our hands.”
Arteta: “We knew we had to go to Etihad and, after that, we are going to have five very difficult games. So that game [on Wednesday] is going to be really important. Is it going to define this season? The answer is no … if we win tomorrow we have not won the league. It will shift probably the percentage, but five games in this league is very tricky still.”
The Catalonian coach was not shy about ringing the changes for the FA Cup semi and will recall the likes of John Stones, Ruben Dias, Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne to the XI here, while Mahrez’s hat-trick against the Blades could see the Algerian play his way into a start too.
The irrepressible Erling Braut Haaland sits on 32 goals in the top flight and needs just one more to break the record for a 38-game season, while a seventh hat-trick in Man City colours would see the 22-year-old enter a league of his own in the Premier League – Andy Cole and Alan Shearer currently lead the way with 34 strikes in a 42-game campaign.
Arsenal also have a key defensive concern to worry about, as William Saliba continues to make slow progress in his recovery from a back injury, and the French centre-back will miss Wednesday’s game and potentially the rest of the season – the worst possible news for Gooners as the maligned Rob Holding comes face-to-face with Haaland.
Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny will also watch on from the sidelines as they rehabilitate from season-ending knee surgeries, but Granit Xhaka should fight off the illness that ruled him out of the draw with Southampton; the ineffective Fabio Vieira will certainly make way if so.
Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus are both in line to start against their former club, while Gabriel Martinelli will break the record for the most goals by a Brazilian player in a single Premier League season with a 16th strike here – the 21-year-old’s current tally of 15 is equal to Roberto Firmino’s 2017-18 haul.
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Akanji, Dias, Laporte; Stones, Rodri; Mahrez, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Xhaka, Partey; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Jesus
