Mikel Arteta, Erling Haaland, Bukayo Saka, Pep Guardiola (Photo by Mike Hewitt, Karl Lecine, Justin Setterfield, Kate McShane/Getty Images)
This is the big game. This Sunday, Manchester City will play Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium. This season’s Premier League title race is increasingly looking like a winner-takes-all affair.
The Gunners move to the top of the table, albeit a narrow gap that Man City can close, while Pep Guardiola’s side also have games in hand against their rivals.
Bukayo Saka is absent and Martin Odegaard’s suitability is still uncertain, but Erling Haaland’s form will be one to watch.
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The two sides met in the Carabao Cup final just a few weeks ago, but this game will probably feel even bigger as it is almost a cup final with the Premier League title at stake, as well as a potential springboard for Arsenal into the Champions League.
Read on to find out six key things to keep in mind during this Sunday’s summit showdown…
Arsenal may have to play for a draw, but will it be enough?
In some ways there is more pressure on Arsenal going into this game due to the fact that they are aiming for their first title in 22 years, but it is worth remembering that in reality City probably need more wins or their title hopes are likely to end.
In that case, Arsenal could play for a draw. This is because Arsenal may be better off relying more on their strong defensive record, especially with a number of key attacking players such as Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard missing this game due to injury.
Still, it feels like what Arsenal have been missing from their recent title challenges is an impressive win away from home. They have drawn in their last two visits to the Etihad, and have made some progress since the 4-1 defeat in 2022/23, but had they been a little more ambitious with a 0-0 draw late next season, the title would have gone to North London rather than Manchester.
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However, it will be important to let Arsenal fight without getting carried away by emotion, and Mikel Arteta will no doubt be aware that a point will keep City a fair distance away and that the fate of the trophy is out of their hands.
What impact will the Carabao Cup final have on the psychology of the match?
We know that the two recently faced each other in another big game, when City won the Carabao Cup with a 2-0 win over Arsenal at Wembley.
In many ways, this was the perfect test for the Arsenal players who stayed and watched as City celebrated by lifting the cup in front of their eyes – could you answer it? Can you learn from your mistakes that day? Or will that defeat just hamper your performance?
City are a much more experienced side in terms of getting over the line and winning big trophies, so you can imagine their confidence will be high heading into this game. Wins tend to breed more wins, but of course this season hasn’t necessarily been City’s vintage side, so could a degree of complacency also be at play?
| 2025/26 league statistics | arsenal | manchester city |
| victory | twenty one | 19 |
| draw | 7 | 7 |
| loss | 4 | 5 |
| the goal | 62 | 63 |
| Number of goals against | twenty four | 28 |
| goal difference | +38 | +35 |
How do you evaluate Arsenal’s performance in big games?
Before this season’s defeats to Liverpool and Manchester United, Arsenal had gone on a long unbeaten run against the so-called “big six” teams in the league.
Arteta tends to know how to get something special out of his players in these important games, but the problem is that City, especially away games, are a bit of an exception to the rule.
Arsenal have drawn their last two games at the Etihad, and although they came close to winning with just 10 men last season, there is no doubt that the Etihad is a difficult venue, with the north Londoners having not won there since 2015.
This is probably not a matchup they would ideally have chosen if they could, given that Arsenal are not doing well at the moment while City are, but it doesn’t have to be perfect either. A draw for three consecutive seasons wouldn’t be a bad result at all.
How does an injury affect things?
Another concern for Arsenal is the number of injuries, with Bukayo Saka confirmed to be absent from the game, while it is not yet clear whether Martin Odegaard, Julian Timber and Riccardo Calafioli will return. Even if they are able to do so, they are unlikely to have reached peak fitness or form.
However, City are largely in good health, with manager Pep Guardiola confirming Nico O’Reilly will return, but Ruben Dias is still out, which is a pretty big loss, and Josko Gvardiol also remains out for an extended period of time.
Arsenal’s problem is that the main injuries are in attack, which is already the main weakness of the current squad. Noni Maduke is no substitute for Saka, who is fully fit and in form, and even if Eberechi Eze’s return is a big boost, there is no other player capable of dictating matches like Odegaard.
Eze could add a bit of a spark in Arsenal’s final third as he was absent from the Carabao Cup final, but for the most part this current situation will probably only increase the need for the North Londoner to be very defensively prepared.
Will Erling Haaland be able to regain his form?
Curiously, although it has become less noticeable, Erling Haaland hasn’t been at his best for a while.
The Norway international has had a good record against the Gunners, scoring against them last season as well as at the Emirates earlier this season.
Haaland has scored 33 goals in 45 games this season, but only three in his last 13 league games, two of which came from the penalty spot.
Of course, it would be unwise to ignore the fact that he recently scored a hat-trick against Liverpool in the FA Cup. Perhaps we’ll see him return to his best form sometime soon, but at the moment he doesn’t look like someone who would be overjoyed against William Saliba or Gabriel Magalhães.
Could Arsenal comply with the bottler tag?
We’ve all seen it, and I’m sure the Arsenal players have seen it as well.
Of course, we’re talking about this viral video from last weekend’s City’s 3-0 win over Chelsea, just one day after Arsenal’s blunder in their 2-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth.
This kind of thing should inspire Arsenal to prove the critics wrong. This club has been mocked and ridiculed as a bottler for far too long. There may never be a better opportunity to finally change people’s views.
How do you think this match will unfold? Who do you predict will advance and win the league in the end? Let us know your thoughts and predictions in the comments!
