Arsenal vs. Manchester City
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Kick off: 4PM
The race for the top four will take another pivotal turn on Sunday (today) as Arsenal host Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.
The hosts have slipped down to sixth place courtesy of a poor run of form before the international break, while Man City sit seven points better off in third.
When all is said and done with Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal career, there will be plenty of highlights to look back on.
The Gunners have suffered four defeats in their last five Premier League games – their worst ever run of form under Wenger – and in the meantime they were also humiliated on the European stage by a 10-2 aggregate loss at the hands of Bayern Munich.
Such form has seen them slump to sixth in the table – only the second time in Premier League history that they have been outside the top five in April – and just as damagingly has created a civil war of sorts amongst supporters.
It may not be to the same extent as Arsenal’s current troubles, but Pep Guardiola has also found himself under scrutiny like never before at times this season.
In many ways their story is similar to that of the Gunners – a disappointing early exit from the Champions League and underachievement on the domestic front leading to questions over whether the manager’s powers are waning.
City, however, come into today’s match in much better shape than their hosts and, while Guardiola has said for some time that Chelsea are out of reach, second place is still very much in their sights with a two-point gap separating them from Tottenham Hotspur.
After today’s trip to the Emirates Stadium they will return to London on Wednesday to face the runaway league leaders Chelsea, while they must also take on Manchester United before the season is over – not forgetting their continued participation in the FA Cup.
City have only lost one of their last 13 matches across all competitions, though, while in the Premier League they are on a seven-match unbeaten streak – their longest run under Guardiola.
Arsenal Possible XI: Ospina, Bellerin, Mustafi, Koscielny, Monreal, Xhaka, Elneny, Ramsey, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud.
Man City Possible XI: Caballero, Fernandinho, Stones, Otamendi, Clichy, Sterling, De Bruyne, Toure, Silva, Sane, Aguero.