Arsenal vs. Man City
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Kick off: 9pm
The pick of the 10 Premier League games on matchday 21 is the last of the lot as the two favourites for the title, Arsenal and Manchester City, collide at the Emirates on Monday (today).
Both still trail surprise leaders, Leicester City.
It has been a good couple of weeks for the Gunners since the below-par 1-1 draw at Norwich City at the end of last month.
Arsene Wenger’s side have won three in a row, scoring eight and conceding just one to stay hot on the heels of Leicester and also scrape through to the Champions League knockout stage.
Last week’s 3-0 win at Olympiacos put Arsenal through the group stage for the 16th year in a row, but they finished second behind Bayern Munich and were duly punished with a last-16 tie against favourites for the crown and defending champions Barcelona.
Next year’s two-legged tie will be the third time in 10 years that the two teams have met, and Arsenal have lost every time.
They lost to the Catalan giants in the 2006 final before going out 6-3 and 4-3 on aggregate in the 2010 quarter-finals and 2011 last-16 stage respectively.
The worst imaginable draw, then, but if the Gunners do go out as expected it might just breathe more life into their Premier League hopes.
After three without a win, the Gunners have won back-to-back league matches against Sunderland and Aston Villa – the league’s bottom two clubs. Olivier Giroud opened the scoring at Villa Park last weekend and the Frenchman has five goals in the Gunners’ three recent wins, while Aaron Ramsey is also back in form having bagged two goals and an assist in the wins over Sunderland and Villa.
At the other end, Petr Cech’s clean sheet on Sunday equalled David James’s Premier League record of 169 shutouts.
Three of Arsenal’s next four Premier League games are at home, and the Gunners are unbeaten in their last six league games at the Emirates since the opening-day defeat to West Ham United.
While Arsenal were handed arguably the toughest tie of the last 16, City will be happy with their opponent for the first round of the knockout stage after having to face Barcelona the last two years in the same round.
Paris Saint-Germain, who Chelsea got for the third year in a row, were the second-placed team to avoid for City and they instead drew Dynamo Kiev.
City have insisted that it is not an easy draw, but they will be confident of reaching the quarter-finals of Europe’s elite competition for the first time.
Domestically, Manuel Pellegrini’s side go into this match a point behind their opponents after squeezing past managerless Swansea City last Saturday.
Former Swans striker Wilfried Bony opened the scoring at the Etihad, but it looked like City had thrown it away when Bafetimbi Gomis ended his goal drought in the 90th minute.
City were able to spare their blushes, though, as Yaya Toure’s shot looped up off the back of Kelechi Iheanacho and into the far corner.
It was a fortuitous way to win, but it means that Iheanacho’s two Premier League goals this season have won Man City four points; the same total that Giroud’s nine goals have earned Arsenal.
City have won five of their last six Premier League home matches, but it is a different story on the road.
Pellegrini’s side have won none of their last four away league games and failed to score in the last three in a row, drawing blanks at Manchester United, Aston Villa and Stoke City.
If they fail to find the net at the Emirates, it will be the first time in almost 10 years that they have gone four straight away league games without a goal.
Arsenal possible starting lineup: Cech, Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Monreal, Ramsey, Flamini, Campbell, Ozil, Walcott, Giroud.
City possible starting lineup: Hart, Sagna, Otamendi, Mangala, Clichy, Fernandinho, Toure, De Bruyne, Silva, Sterling, Aguero.