Arsenal vs Man City Premier League preview: How to watch, lineups, Arteta, Covid & prediction

Arsenal Predicted Lineup to Face Man City – Emile Smith Rowe on the Bench Again?

Arsenal: Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Tierney; Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard; Saka, Lacazette, Martinelli

Manchester City: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; Gundogan, Rodri, De Bruyne; Bernardo, Foden, Sterling

Arsenal hate playing Manchester City. Manchester City love playing Arsenal. The fixtures between these two have been hideously one-sided of late.

Not only have the Gunners lost five in a row against the Citizens, they’ve failed to score in all five of those. Should they draw a blank again, it will equal their record of six consecutive matches against the same opposition without scoring (Liverpool in 2000 and Chelsea in 2016).

Throw in the absence of a very animated and vocal manager on the sidelines and this task becomes even tougher.

Supporters will, however, be feeling unusually confident. Arteta’s stamp is all over this team and the performances of late show a strong improvement in all departments, especially in front of goal. The only issue with looking at this from the perspective of Arsenal improving is that so are Man City.

Sitting top of the Premier League by nine points heading into the new year, albeit with an additional game played, they have top performers across their side with an abundance of threat. Kevin De Bruyne is finding his stride, Rodri has been the best holding midfielder in the league, Cancelo has a case for being the best full-back in Europe and fellow teammates Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden continue to mesmerise.

All without mentioning Bernardo Silva, who has been the outstanding player this season alongside Mohamed Salah.

There is so much to be encouraged about with Arsenal lately. Whatever the outcome at the Emirates may be, that shouldn’t change. You hope so too, since it’s hard to look past an away victory.

Score Prediction: Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City