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Your support makes all the difference.Manchester City can dent Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes and move above the Gunners in the process when they face-off at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, with Arsene Wenger’s side looking to close the gap to runaway leaders Chelsea to six points. Follow the latest here.
- Manchester City vs Arsenal kicks off at 16:00 GMT
- City without suspended Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho
- Ilkay Gundogan ruled out for the rest of the season with knee ligament damage
- Teams:
- Manchester City: Bravo; Zabaleta, Otamendi, Kolarov, Clichy; Fernando; Sané, Touré, Silva, Sterling; De Bruyne
- Subs: Caballero, Sagna, Stones, Nolito, Navas, Iheanacho, A Garcia
- Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Xhaka; Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi; Sanchez.
- Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Holding, Elneny, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lucas, Giroud.
Follow the live action below...
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Arsenal cannot afford to slip up when they travel to Manchester City on Sunday or else risk dropping nine points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea, while City also find themselves in a perilous position after a run of poor form.
With a Gunners a solitary point ahead of fourth-placed City, the match will see two sides having their title credentials tested go head to head with the loser in danger of falling out of the title picture.
City go into the match on the back foot, with Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho suspended and Ilkay Gundogan ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in Wednesday’s victory over Watford.
At least City enter the match off the back of a win though. Arsenal suffered a surprising defeat at Everton on Tuesday in which they were soundly beaten by a team more determined to grab the three points. They could have Aaron Ramsey back for the match, but Arsene Wenger confirmed it comes too soon for Danny Welbeck while Shkodran Mustafi, Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla remain long-term absentees.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Premier League encounter.
It’s a big game for...
Nolito: The Spain international replaced youngster Kelechi Iheanacho for the win over Watford and is likely to continue as the lead striker for the visit of Arsenal. He has big shoes to fill, as the absent Aguero has scored four goals against Arsenal during his Premier League career.
Best stat...
3.2: This clash tends to produce goals, with 32 goals scored between the two sides over their last 10 meetings. City’s biggest victory remains the 6-3 demolition on December 2013, while Arsenal have not managed to better the 3-0 Community Shield victory in 2014 as their best league triumph came in the 2-0 win in January 2015.
Who to look out for...
Alexis Sanchez: The Arsenal striker is running red-hot this season and the ongoing contract negotiations with the club do not appear to be a distraction. Sanchez has 14 goals this season for his club along with two more for his country, and the Chilean now has as many league goals as Diego Costa this season along with the same number of assists in fewer minutes.
Likely teams...
Manchester City: Bravo; Zabaleta, Otamendi, Kolarov, Clichy; Toure, Fernando, Sterling, Silva De Bruyne; Nolito.
Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Ghaka, Coquelin, Walcott, Özil, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Sanchez.
Past three meetings...
Manchester City 2 (Aguero, De Bruyne) Arsenal (Giroud, Sanchez), Premier League, May 2016.
Arsenal 2 (Walcott, Giroud) Manchester City 1 (Toure), Premier League, December 2015.
Manchester City 0 Arsenal 2 (Cazorla, Giroud), Premier League, January 2015.
Form...
Manchester City: DWLDLW
Arsenal: WLWWWL
Odds...
Manchester City to win: 23/20
Arsenal to win: 5/2
Draw: 13/5
(Odds provided by 888sport)
Where can you watch it...
Manchester City vs Arsenal is live on Sky Sports 1 from 15:30.
Highlights on BBC One on Monday at 22:45.
You can also follow it with The Independent’s live blog live on Sunday afternoon.
8 MINS
City are responding well, as they persistently pressure the Arsenal defence. De Bruyne looks dangerous today and Sane is making a nuisance of himself out there.
Wenger's men will need to embrace the momentum from the goal and use this as the driving force to double their tally.
11 MINS
Koscielny hacks down Stering just outside of the penalty area to give away an unnecessary foul.
The set piece is delivered into the box and it meets the head of Toure, who heads it way over the crossbar. The offside flag goes up.
14 MINS
It's all being played in Arsenal's defensive third at the moment and it looks although Wengers plan is to use the forwards pace to beat the City defence with counter attacks.
Toure looses possession and Arsenal do exactly that. The ball is lofted up towards Ozil and they charge up the pitch. The attack deflates when the City defenders regain possession - but it's positive from Arsenal.
17 MINS
The vulnerability of the regularly rotated City defence is proving apparent, as Arsenal exploit this weakness at every opportunity. Guardiola continues to try and find his perfect back four.
Iwobi is dropping deep and redeeming possession and then delivering it up to Sanchez to begin every Arsenal move.
20 MINS
City are relentlessly attacking the Arsenal defence, but they are struggling to find the final product. The likes of Sane and Silva are picking up the ball deep in the Gunners half, but they are lacking attacking options.
23 MINS
The through ball goes long to De Bruyne, but Gabriel is there and shields possession. Goal kick. It's the right idea from Guardiola's men, but once again there is no final product.
26 MINS
Cech delivers a long ball up field, but City are winning everything in the air at the moment. Silva picks up position in the middle of the park and Xhaka hacks him down - free kick to CIty. The Arsenal man kicks the ball away after the whistle has blown, but to the relief of the Arsenal fans - the referee does not book him for it.
29 MINS
De Bruyne attempts to slot a through ball to Silva, but the flag is raised and it's offside. That's either very good defensively from Arsenal, or alternatively it's sloppy from the forward.
32 MINS
The ball goes wide for Ozil, who forwards the ball onto Walcott but it's a tricky technique to master and the strike goes way over the bar.
35 MINS
De Bruyne goes down inside of the penalty box, but despite a roar from the home fans in the Etihad - the referee signals to play on. It looks although Bellerin is marking him very tightly, but it's not enough to cause the Belgian to go to ground.
Guardiola watches on from the sideline with a tiresome glow. He does not look impressed by what he's watching. They need to desperately hunt this equaliser before the interval.
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