Premier League news LIVE: Arsenal and Man City injury updates, Liverpool latest after Xabi Alonso blow

To be the best, you have to beat the best. It is a familiar theory. It appears to be underpinning Arsenal’s planning, their strategy for the season. Or, even when the best are unbeatable, at least draw 1-1 with them.

The fact Arsenal topped the table for 248 days has been relegated to a subplot in last season’s tale of Manchester City’s treble. It did not have the inevitability sometimes attributed, but City retained the status of title favourites for virtually all of those 248 days. The two most significant came against Arsenal: 3-1 and 4-1 victories were emphatic, a brilliantly brutal illustration of the destructive gifts of Erling Haaland and, still more so, Kevin de Bruyne, whose 167 minutes against the Gunners produced three goals and two assists.

And take those two results away and Arsenal got 84 points and City 83. It isn’t as simple as that, Pep Guardiola’s team dropping five points after the title was won, three of them with a second-string side. The eventual standings could nevertheless be used to argue that Arsenal were better at beating the rest.

Mikel Arteta can exhibit a sense of relentless ambition. The next step for the Arsenal manager was to make his side better against their rivals.

By Richard Jolly

Manchester City host Arsenal on Sunday in a potential Premier League title decider at the Etihad - but both teams come in the clash with injury concerns following the international break.

It was a devastating window for the champions City, who saw Kyle Walker limp off with a hamstring issue in England’s 1-0 defeat to Brazil, before John Stones was forced off early on in the 2-2 draw with Belgium due to an abductor problem.

The concerns for Arsenal came earlier, with Bukayo Saka pulling out of England’s camp and both Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli forced to withdraw from Brazil’s squad.

Arsenal will need to be at full strength if they are to end a nine-year winless run at Manchester City, who they lead by two points in the Premier League title race as Mikel Arteta’s side hunt a first league championship in 20 years.

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag is confident Kobbie Mainoo can deal with the hype following his impressive full England debut.

Just four months on from making his first Premier League start, the 18-year-old put in a man-of-the-match performance in Tuesday’s 2-2 draw against Belgium at Wembley.

Mainoo had not even been included in the initial England squad but followed a promising debut off the bench against Brazil by potentially earning a spot at Euro 2024 with his display against Belgium.

That performance has taken the midfielder’s stock to new heights but Ten Hag is confident the success will not go to his head.

“I thought it was very good, but we are not surprised,” the United boss said. “We have seen what he is capable of, that he can very quickly adapt to high levels. It looks very natural.”

Jurgen Klopp says Liverpool will take things “day by day” with Andy Robertson as he indicated the left-back’s injury was not serious.

Robertson was being assessed by the Reds after coming off in the first half of Scotland’s friendly against Northern Ireland on Tuesday due to an ankle issue.

Speaking at his press conference ahead of Sunday’s Premier League home clash with Brighton, Liverpool boss Klopp said: “Robbo, we take it a little bit day by day, so we will see.

“He will not train today but it’s not as bad, so that’s fine.”

Klopp – whose side after the Brighton game continue their title bid by hosting Sheffield United next Thursday, then playing Manchester United away three days later – also reported that Darwin Nunez, a withdrawal from Uruguay’s squad as the international break got under way, was “fine”.

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has hailed Pep Guardiola as “the best coach in the world” as the close friends prepare for a potentially seismic game in the Premier League title battle this weekend.

Manchester City play host to their title rivals at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday having won the last seven home meetings between the two sides.

Arsenal finally managed to record a rare victory over City when they won the reverse fixture at the Emirates Stadium earlier this season and go into the weekend top of the table – above Liverpool on goal difference with Guardiola’s reigning champions a point further back.

The two Spaniards are good friends, Arteta having worked under Guardiola at City between 2016 and 2019 and played his part in two Premier League title wins.

Now though, they will once again be in opposite dugouts as Arteta prepares to lock horns with a manager he believes is without rival.

Xabi Alonso always played the game at his own speed. It was part of his strength as a footballer, a cool detachment, an ability to see the big picture and to identify the right move. Like many a Spanish midfielder, he did not always take the most direct route. When he did, though, a remarkable long passer could do so with great success.

The characteristics that made one of the most cerebral of players an obvious candidate for management seem apparent in his choices in his coaching career. Alonso could have been fast-tracked to two of his former clubs, and two of Europe’s super clubs. And he will take things at his own pace, staying at Bayer Leverkusen. He has been unhurried: in making a decision, in plotting his path.

“There has been a lot of speculation around my future, we have been busy and focused and I wanted the international break to reflect a bit better,” he said. “I had a very good meeting with the decision-makers, and I decided to stay at Bayer Leverkusen. I have to feel it, and right now I feel this is the right place.”

Jurgen Klopp on Liverpool’s run-in: “We have to give everything in each and every game. Home and away. It’s all tricky and everybody needs luck with injuries, we didn’t have it until now but hopefully the boys are coming back. We need them. Then it’s about finding a way to win the game.

“We have found a way which is good for us to play. Before the break we had games against Manchester City and Manchester United, and in parts of those, we played some of our best football of the season.

“Now we are back. I would love to say we are reenergised but the boys had games. We play on Sunday but that’s enough time to recoverand now let’s go.”

Mikel Arteta says Arsenal will be full of belief when they arrive at Manchester City in the title race.

“I have full belief and trust in my players. On the pitch we have to show what we can do, off the pitch it is all just talk.

“It’s a massive game for both teams because it will give us a massive boost if we win it but there is a lot of games to go after that to win it.”

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp says he can “understand” Xabi Alonso’s decision to remain at Bayer Leverkusen next season after turning down the chance to replace him at Anfield.

Klopp labelled Alonso, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005, as the “outstanding” candidate and gave the Spaniard his backing ahead of the German leaving the club at the end of the season.

But Liverpool will now have to look elsewhere after Alonso, who is only 18 months into his first professional job as a manager, confirmed that Leverkusen was the “right place to develop as a coach”.

Bayern Munich, another of Alonso’s former clubs, were also interested in the former midfielder but with Leverkusen 10 points clear at the top of the Bundesliga, the 42-year-old has announced he will be at the same club next season.

Mikel Arteta has revealed Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhaes have not trained ahead of Arsenal’s trip to Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday, but says there is a “chance” all three will be involved in the potential title decider.

Leaders Arsenal travel to City looking to end a nine-year winless run at the Etihad and claim a result that would go a long way to boosting their hopes of a first Premier League title in 20 years.

Arsenal lost both games to City last season, including a 4-1 defeat at the Etihad in the run-in, but Arteta’s side beat Guardiola’s team earlier this campaign and will take a two-point lead over City into the clash.

Forwards Saka and Martinelli and defender Gabriel were not involved over the international break, with Saka pulling out of England’s squad with a hamstring injury and Martinelli and Gabriel not involved with Brazil due to a foot problem and Achilles issue respectively.