The State of Play
Pep Guardiola is attempting to achieve something special in charge of Manchester City with the Cityzens aiming to complete a historic ‘double treble’ this season. They progressed into the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a 2-0 defeat of Newcastle United a couple of weeks ago but head into the ‘run-in’ sitting third in the Premier League table, which will be very unusual for Guardiola and his players.
Arsenal have been magnificent in the league in 2024. The Gunners have played eight games in England’s top-flight with eight victories, scoring 33 goals in the process. That has propelled them to top-of-the-table in the Premier League. The north Londoners reached this stage, or near enough, top last season before a mini collapse saw City leapfrog them and become champions before the final day.
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Team News
Manchester City are having to deal with a fair few injury issues of their own this weekend as both John Stones and Kyle Walker had to pull out early on from injuries during England internationals. Ederson, Manuel Akanji and Kevin De Bruyne are all also doubtful.
Arsenal had their own concerns over the international break with Bukayo Saka withdrawing from the England squad. David Raya, Gabriel and Gabriel Martinelli are all doubts, whilst Jurrien Timber remains out until at least early May.
Expected Line-ups
Manchester City: Ederson; Lewis, Dias, Gvardiol, Ake; Rodri, Silva; Foden, Alvarez, Doku; Haaland
Arsenal: David Raya; White, Saliba, Kiwior, Zinchenko; Odegaard, Jorginho, Rice; Saka, Havertz, Trossard
What they Said
After their game the other week, Pep Guardiola heaped the praise on the ‘excellent’ Bruno Guimaraes and now the Cityzens have been heavily linked with a summer move for the Brazilian international midfielder.
In the aftermath of Arsenal’s most recent outing, whereby they defeated Porto on penalties in the Round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League, Mikel Arteta described the victory as ‘magic’.
When and How to Watch
This match will be played at 16:30 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday March 31st and will be televised live on Sky Sports in the UK. It will also be able to be streamed live via the Sky Go app in the UK.
Prediction
Manchester City have been on a long unbeaten run of form across all competitions but if they were to ever lose a game, and lose a game at home, then it would appear like this weekend would be the likeliest time for it. Arsenal are in sensational form and come up against a City side that haven’t necessarily been at their fluent best and they have a fair few injury concerns. Given that, siding with the Gunners seems the way to go for this one.
