PREMIER LEAGUE

Man City vs Arsenal: prediction, team news and potential lineup

By Harikrishnan S

Posted on September 22, 2024 10:16 pm

Arsenal go head to head with Man City in one of the most ancipated fixture of the season and here is our prediction and potential lineup.

The Gunners and City have been the two title challengers for the past couple of seasons and it is expected to continue this season also. Manchester City have been the team to beat for the some time now winning each of the last four titles. And Arsenal came close last season taking the battle to the final day of the season missing out on just 2 points. This season Man City have had a perfect start to the season so far while Arsenal have only dropped two points. Anyway it will a blockbuster sunday in the Premier League this weekend. Both teams will look to make a statement and take upperhand in the title race. Here are some of our inputs into the game.

TEAM NEWS

Arsenal and Man City will miss each of their best players for this titanic clash in Martin Odegaard and Kevin De Bruyne. The Gunners captain is sidelined for a significant period time with an ankleligament injury as confirmed by Arteta midweek. De Bruyne on the other hand was forced off injured during City’s Champions League match against Inter Milan on Wednesday. Anyway according to the official Man City website Guardiola said “He could be involved.” While Guardiola has multiple personle in his ranks to replace the Belgian, Arteta is struggling to find a life beyond his captain Odegaard.

🚨🔵 Pep Guardiola: “Kevin de Bruyne feels today a little bit better, but not yet… he could be involved against Arsenal”.

“Days off and tomorrow is training and we will see”. pic.twitter.com/bU2UcJ0yWv
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 20, 2024

The hosts also have Oscar Bobb sidelined after he broke his leg before the season and will miss the majority of the season. Another major absentee for the Cityzens is Dutchman Nathan Ake.

The Gunners have a huge boost in midfield as Decland Rice will be back after suspension. Riccardo Calfiori is also set to be back after missing out against Tottenham with a slight injury. While Oleksander Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Mikel Merino and Kieran Tierney all remain sidelined for this weekend.

MAN CITY VS ARSENAL PREDICTION

Along with all the hype for this fixture this weekend we also have to remember that both teams have not had the best of the starts to their Champions League season aswell. Arsenal were held to goalless draw by Atalanta in Bergamo and City were frustrated by Inter at the Etihad. So both teams would like to comeback from their disspointing results and make a statement on sunday.

Anyway with two crucial players missing out, Either teams would have to try out new game plans in order to get a positive outcome. Arsenal are expected to go with an all defensive set up as they have done in their two previous matches. Their defense was praised by some of the pundits after their victory at Tottenham Hotspurs stadium. Even after the dispointing result against Atalanta, Man Utd legend Rio Ferdinand had only positives to say about Arsenal. The former England defender cam out saying that the Gunners are ‘resolute’ now.

He went on to say: “They are a team that are hard to play against, home or away, and that is not what you want as an opposition player. “They are a team that other teams are looking at and thinking, ‘I’d rather give that one a miss.”

Man City had a perfect start to the season and are top of the table. A win on Sunday would mean that they are the formidable forces to retain the title. Eventhough De Bruyne might be absent Guardiola has a variety of options with him. We predict a draw at the Etihad on Sunday. Arsenal in their unbreakable defensive format will frustrate Manchester City throughout the match. BBC Sport journalist Chris Sutton has predicted a 2-1 Man City victory.