Who: Arsenal vs Manchester City
What: English Premier League
Where: Emirates Stadium in London, United Kingdom
When: Sunday, September 21, at 4:30pm (15:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 1:30pm (12:30 GMT) in advance of our live text commentary stream.
Manchester City will try to finish a challenging week unblemished when they visit an Arsenal side hoping to see some of its injured stars return to match fitness.
City were dethroned as champions by Liverpool last season, following four successive title wins, while the Gunners have finished second in the Premier League for three consecutive years.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at another early-season title showdown in the English top flight.
How are Man City shaping up in the Premier League this season?
After a difficult start to the season, City (2-2-0, 6 points) returned from the September international window in impressive form.
Last weekend, Erling Haaland’s brace propelled City to a 3-0 home win over Manchester United, a result that halted a two-match Premier League losing streak.
Then on Thursday night, Haaland and Jeremy Doku scored after halftime in a 2-0 home victory over reigning Serie A champions Napoli to open their UEFA Champions League campaign.
City are nine points behind leaders Liverpool, who beat Everton on Saturday, in the early standings as manager Pep Guardiola’s reworked squad begins its bid to win another league title.
Guardiola, however, is still placing the most importance on his squad’s overall development at the moment, rather than the match-by-match results.
“Seeing the team growing up, that is my only concern right now, making a step forward,” he said on Friday. “We are not going to win the Premier League on Sunday, and we are not going to lose the Premier League on Sunday.”
Man City points to irony of Arsenal’s investment drive
Guardiola has suggested Arsenal’s spending has not been held to the same level of scrutiny.
Arteta’s Arsenal side were bolstered by a close-season outlay exceeding 250 million pounds ($337.3m), while champions Liverpool spent more than 400 million ($538.6m), including more than 100 million ($134.7m) each on Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak.
“The only thing I want to say to my friend Mikel Arteta is, if he wins the title, it will be just because he spent money, not because he worked hard or because of his players,” Guardiola said tongue in cheek of his former City assistant coach.
“It’s like Liverpool, too. If Arne [Slot] wins it again, it will be because he spent a lot of money, right? Because it’s not just Man City that [spend], right?
“For many, many years, every club can do whatever they want, you know? I know how they’ve been treated is completely different [to City], but what they want to spend is because they want it and it’s fine.”
City spent about 150 million pounds ($202m) in the close-season transfer window, adding to the 180 million ($242.4m) they invested in January.
What happened in last season’s corresponding Arsenal-Man City clash?
City suffered a 5-1 defeat at The Emirates last season, and Guardiola said his team face a stiff challenge on Sunday against an Arsenal side bolstered by the close-season signings of Eberechi Eze, Viktor Gyokeres and Martín Zubimendi.
“They spent what they believe they can to compete against the best teams in the Premier League and Europe, and they’ve reached that level,” Guardiola said.
“[Arteta] found the club in a [certain] way and step-by-step, window-by-window, Arsenal are getting better.
“Last season in Europe, they made an incredible step forward, and they are for me the most solid team,” he added, referring to Arsenal reaching the Champions League semifinals.
How are Arsenal shaping up in the Premier League this term?
Arsenal’s only defeat so far came at Liverpool at the end of August in a tightly contested 1-0 reverse decided by Dominik Soboszlai’s brilliant late free kick.
That is the only goal Mikel Arteta’s Gunners (3-1-0, 9 points) have conceded this season. They rebounded from the defeat with a 3-0 home win against Nottingham Forest in the league last weekend and a 2-0 Champions League victory at Athletic Club in Bilbao, Spain, on Tuesday.
Arsenal seek to keep their cool for Man City’s visit
Arteta expects Arsenal to learn from Myles Lewis-Skelly’s provocative celebration against Manchester City last season when the title rivals clash for the first time in this campaign.
Arsenal defender Lewis-Skelly mocked City striker Haaland by copying his zen goal celebration after scoring in the Gunners’ 5-1 rout of Guardiola’s side in February.
With Arsenal falling just short in title fights with City in 2023 and 2024, the rivalry between the clubs has grown increasingly acrimonious.
Haaland had taunted Arsenal boss Arteta by urging him to “stay humble” following a stormy 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium earlier last season.
Teenager Lewis-Skelly, who has not started a game for Arsenal this season, was criticised for his inflammatory celebration.
Asked if he had spoken to his players about their goal celebrations before Sunday’s showdown, Arteta told reporters, “Well, that was done, and that’s part of it.
“There have been a lot of celebrations or non-celebrations in the past from a lot of teams. The experience is to learn and grow as well, and we certainly learnt from that.”
Arsenal team news
There is a chance that forward Bukayo Saka, midfielder Martin Odegaard and defender Ben White could all participate this weekend for the Gunners after recent injuries.
“Everything has been modified so far for them [in training],” Arteta said of the trio. “There are still a few things to clear, and [Saturday,] we’ll have more information on whether they are part of the squad or if they have a chance to be part of the squad.”
Saka, who scored 47 Premier League goals across the previous four seasons, has not played since the second weekend due to a hamstring issue. However, Arsenal’s reinforcements have helped weather his absence, including striker Gyorkeres, who has a team-high three league goals so far.
Gyokeres is expected to be available after needing stitches for a head injury sustained following a clash of heads with teammate Gabriel Magalhaes. Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz remain sidelined.
Man City team news
England international John Stones could return to the back line following muscular discomfort that has kept him out of the side.
Rayan Cherki remains out with muscle issues, while Omar Marmoush and Rayan Ait-Nouri are also absent.
Arsenal predicted starting lineup
Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori; Merino, Zubimendi, Rice; Madueke, Gyokeres, Martinelli
Manchester City predicted starting lineup
Donnarumma; Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol, O’Reilly; Rodri, Silva, Reijnders; Foden, Haaland, Doku
Arsenal form (all competitions)
W W L W W
Manchester City form (all competitions)
W L L W W
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