Arsenal Vs Manchester City Preview: Prediction, Team News, Predicted Lineups And Streaming Sites

Last updated on: January 1, 2022

Arsenal face a tough challenge of hosting Manchester City at the Emirates stadium in the first Premier League game of the new year. The Gunners are currently on a run of 5 consecutive wins including 4 in the league as they face the defending champions on Saturday. Arsenal sit 4th in the table with 35 points from 19 games and will look to take all three points against City to start the new year on a positive note. Mikel Arteta’s men would have to be perfect in all departments in order to have any chance of picking 3 points against this Manchester City side.

Manchester City have an eight-point lead at the top of the table going into the new year and are aiming to stretch it even more by beating Arsenal in the weekend. Pep Guardiola’s men have won 10 games in a row in the league after their defeat against Crystal Palace in October. The Gunners have last won against City way back in 2015 and it will take a daunting task for them to come away with a result on Saturday.

Arsenal Vs Manchester City Preview

Talking Tactics

Arsenal

Mikel Arteta is expected to go ahead with his usual 4-4-1-1 formation which has brought him success this season. Arsenal will have to be content with a less percentage of possession throughout the game as City will look to dominate from the start but it will be interesting to see what the Arsenal players offer when they get the ball back. They will like to hurt City on counters with the likes of Saka, Martinelli and Lacazette running in behind the defence using their pace.

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola will opt for his 4-3-3 formation and play a possession-based game and look to be patient to break the Arsenal defence down. The midfield trio of Fernandinho, Gundogan and De Bruyne will like to control the tempo of the game and feed the front three players as much as possible to create chances. The front three will have to be sharp and clinical in the final third to break the Arsenal defence which has been very solid this season.

Team News

Arsenal

Arsenal will be expecting Takehiro Tomiyasu to be back in the starting XI after missing the last 2 games due to Covid-19. He also suffered a knock vs Leeds but Arteta will be hoping to have him in the lineup for Saturday. The likes of Calum Chambers and Cedric Soares are also recovering from Covid-19 and will be a doubt for this clash.

Manchester City

Manchester City are expected to be without Rodri and Kyle Walker after they tested positive for Covid-19 recently. John Stones is also likely to miss the game due to an injury. Other than that, Pep Guardiola will have a full-strength squad to choose from on Saturday.

Predicted Lineups For Arsenal Vs Manchester City 

Arsenal: Ramsdale; Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney; Saka, Xhaka, Partey, Martinelli; Odegaard; Lacazette

Manchester City: Ederson; Cancelo, Dias, Laporte, Zinchenko; de Bruyne, Fernandinho, Gundogan; Sterling, Silva, Foden

Prediction

Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City 

Streaming Sites