Arsenal and Manchester City will square up on New Year’s Day for what promises to be an exciting Premier League clash.
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Key Statistics
Arsenal have kept three clean sheets in their last four PL games.
The Gunners are unbeaten at home in their last eleven competitive games (W10, D1).
They have won their last seven matches at the Emirates, keeping five clean sheets).
Manchester City have won their last ten Premier League games.
They have scored the most goals in the league this season (51) and have also conceded the fewest number of goals in the league (12).
The visitors have scored 20 goals and conceded six away from home this season.
There has been 173 yellow cards and 12 red cards in this fixture.
Head to head
Both teams have met 49 times in the top flight. Arsenal won 23 of those games while City won 16. There were 10 draws and 132 goals scored between both sides.
Latest Performances in all competitions
Arsenal: W-W-W-W-W
Man City: W-W-W-W-W
Arsenal
Arsenal continued their impressive run of form with a dominant 5-0 win over Norwich City on Boxing Day. In-form winger Bukayo Saka scored a brace in the game while Alexandre Lacazette, Emile Smith-Rowe and Kieran Tierney also got a goal each.
The win was Arsenal’s fifth consecutive win in all competitions and solidified their grip on the fourth position. Mikel Arteta’s side enter this round of matches four points ahead of West Ham, who are in fifth.
At the Emirates, the Gunners have been very impressive in recent times. They have won their last seven fixtures there and have not conceded a goal in their last four PL matches at home.
Although another shutout is unlikely judging by the quality of their opponents, Mikel Arteta’s men will fancy their chances of picking up maximum points from this game. However, they will have to do so without their coach, who will be unavailable for the match after contracting coronavirus.
Possible Arsenal starting line-ups
Aaron Ramsdale; Ben White, Gabriel, Rob Holding, Kieran Tierney; Granit Xhaka, Thomas Partey, Martin Odegaard, Emile Smith-Rowe; Bukayo Saka, Alexandre Lacazette.
Injured: Callum Chambers, Sead Kolasinac, Pablo Mari, Takehiro Tomiyasu
Doubtul: Albert Sambi Lokonga, Pierre -Emerick Aubameyang,
Suspended: None
Manchester City
Manchester City solidified their grip on the top with a 1-0 victory over Brentford on Wednesday, thanks to a first-half strike by Phil Foden.
The win put the Cityzens eight points ahead of Chelsea who could only draw 1-1 with Brighton on Wednesday, and nine points ahead of Liverpool who had lost to Leicester City a day earlier.
They now have another opportunity to extend their lead at the top when they visit the Emirates and will be desperate to take home maximum points from the tie.
The defending champions have scored at least two goals in seven of their last ten games. And with most of Guardiola’s most prominent attacking players getting a deserved rest against Brentford last time out, the visitors will come into this tie ready and confident of getting a few goals against the Gunners.
Possible Manchester City starting line-ups
Ederson; Joao Cancelo, Ayermic Laporte, Ruben Dias, Oleksandr Zinchenko; Ilkay Gundogan, Fernandinho, Kevin De Bruyne; Phil Foden, Gabriel Jesus, Bernardo Silva.
Injured: Rodri
Doubtful: John Stones, Kyle Walker
Suspended: None
Prediction
Arsenal 1-3 Man City
