Manchester City host Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday in a title-deciding clash for the ages as both sides know the result could define their season.
In their last outing, City brushed past Chelsea to re-ignite the title race after Arsenal‘s defeat to Bournemouth. The result leaves Pep Guardiola‘s side six points adrift of the Gunners with a game in hand ahead of this weekend’s titanic battle.
After a relatively subdued first-half, it was Nico O’Reilly who once again stepped up to the plate, rising highest to nod home from Rayan Cherki‘s delicious cross in the 51st minute and hand City a deserved breakthrough.
The momentum quickly snowballed and just six minutes later, Cherki glided effortlessly beyond a sea of blue shirts before squaring for former Chelsea man Marc Guehi, who made no mistake with a composed, clinical finish to give his new club some breathing room.
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Jeremy Doku pounced on a costly lapse from Moises Caicedo on the edge of the Chelsea area to cap off a commanding display, nicking possession and coolly slotting home his fifth goal of the campaign to put the result beyond any doubt.
Up next for Guardiola’s men is a fixture that could turn out to be season-defining. After months of being all but written off by many, City have the chance to draw themselves to within just three points of the summit as they ready themselves to host Premier League leaders Arsenal.
Here’s how we predict Manchester City will line up against Arsenal on Sunday evening-
Starting XI
Gianluigi Donnarumma kept his 12th clean sheet of his debut Premier League campaign on Sunday – only five keepers in Europe’s top five leagues have kept more.
The Italian has been crucial to Manchester City’s title hunt this season, with some of his finest performances coming in the biggest matches. If City are to come out of this one unscathed, Donnarumma will have to bring his A-game once again.
Matheus Nunes has been in the form of his life this term, so much so that his place in the squad is almost guaranteed in a game of this magnitude. Only Erling Haaland and Gianluigi Donnarumma have played more minutes for City this season.
The Portugal international grabbed himself an assist in the Carabao Cup final against Mikel Arteta’s side in March after missing out on the starting line-up in the same fixture at the start of the season.
His link-up play with Antoine Semenyo on the right flank was crucial in the 2-0 final win at Wembley – and more of the same this weekend would no doubt go a long way if City are to be crowned Premier League champions for a seventh time under Guardiola.
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In the centre of defence, the partnership of Abdukodir Khusanov and Marc Guehi has been rock-solid in their short time together so far. Khusanov continues to impress fans and win over even his harshest critics, seemingly making improvements game after game.
As for Guehi, his goal on Sunday coupled with yet another clean sheet showcased exactly why City were so desperate to beat everyone else for his signature. It’s no coincidence that City’s defence looked revitalised with the signing of the England international.
With O’Reilly having been withdrawn with an injury on Sunday, it looks as if Rayan Ait-Nouri could be in line to start. Ait-Nouri has been fantastic with limited minutes this season, his appearance from the bench against Chelsea was yet another showcase of his exceptional on-ball talent.
Whilst O’Reilly will no doubt be a huge miss if he is indeed not fit for Arsenal, there are very few better back-up options at full-back in the world than Ait-Nouri.
Rodri looked a step or two off the pace at times against Chelsea but even still, the Spaniard looked at ease with mostly everything the opposition could throw his way.
There is definitely a case to be made that Nico Gonzalez is deserving of more gametime than he’s seen recently but a game of this magnitude is probably not the one to disrupt the current status quo. A match of this scale is the perfect opportunity for Manchester City’s Ballon d’Or winner to show exactly what he’s made of.
Rayan Cherki needs no introduction. There simply aren’t enough superlatives in the world to do any justice to the Frenchman’s recent performances. After spending some time away from the starting squad, Cherki has won his spot in the XI on pure merit. With a brace of assists on the weekend, there may be no one better to break the often impenetrable Arsenal defence.
Captain Bernardo Silva is sure to be the man to lead the team out this weekend. In his final season at City, the 31-year-old has already lifted silverware once and with two more trophies on the line, he’ll be more hungry than anyone to get his hands on both.
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As if he wasn’t already guaranteed a place as a Manchester City legend, turning the tide here and bringing home a title that at one point looked impossible would surely cement Silva as an all-time great.
Antoine Semenyo may have gone goalless in the last match but it never feels like goals are far away when the former Bournemouth man is on the pitch.
Semenyo has yet to score against Arsenal in his career but in his last appearance against the Gunners, he gave Piero Hincapie plenty to think about down the right flank and he’ll surely look forward to more of the same on Sunday.
Who else but Erling Haaland up front? The Norwegian may have faced some criticism over his goalscoring form in recent times but it would never be wise to bet against him. If anyone knows that it takes to break the deadlock against the toughest defence in the league, it’s Erling Braut Haaland.
Jeremy Doku bagged his fifth goal of the campaign, his 14th goal involvement in all competitions, at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
The Belgium forward admitted after the match that he’d like to be amongst the goals more often as well as stating his belief that the title race is well and truly on. There are few scarier prospects as a footballer than a fired-up Doku running at you for 90 minutes.
Starting XI: Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, Ait-Nouri; Rodri, Bernardo, Cherki; Semenyo, Haaland, Doku
Substitutes: Trafford, Ake, Nico, Kovacic, O’Reilly, Reijnders, Foden, Savinho, Marmoush
