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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.
Spurs players Christmas party tonight. Vertonghen quite literally sprinted through the mixed zone. #thfc
Watched City v Arsenal. Can't miss the biggest difference between David Silva and Mesut Ozil: when it matters, Silva takes responsibility.
That's why Silva is one of best players in PL history. And Ozil, although one of the most gifted and watchable, is not.
This was one of the best performances in a big game of recent years twitter.com/lovefutebol/st…
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