Arsenal will visit Manchester City on Sunday, a meeting between the two Premier League top teams of the last two seasons, but both clubs could be missing stars who have been central to their recent successes.
Before the weekend, the teams were again in first (City) and second (Arsenal) place in the table at the start of the season.
City manager Pep Guardiola suggested that long-time creative midfielder Kevin De Bruyne has a chance of playing after he was taken off early in his team’s 0-0 draw with Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday with an apparent groin problem.
Perhaps his absence would be less critical than in recent seasons. The 33-year-old has only one goal and one assist in the league, but City (4-0-0, 12 points) have still scored 11 times during their perfect start – with Erling Haaland contributing an incredible nine of those goals.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, however, will continue to be out after sustaining an ankle injury in an international match for Norway in September.
City successfully overcame De Bruyne’s extended absence last season to win a fourth consecutive Premier League title, but while the gap between the two clubs is narrowing, Guardiola believes that is because Arsenal are getting better at coping without their best players.
That doesn’t mean that the loss of Odegaard won’t be felt.
“The reason Arsenal are getting better year after year is because they invest a lot in the depth of their squad,” said Guardiola. “But he is the captain of Arsenal and everyone knows what a good player, what an exceptional player he is.”
Arsenal (3-0-1, 10 points) also has to contend with a significant scheduling disadvantage, as the team will be playing away for the third time in a row within eight days, and this is of increased importance.
The Gunners beat Tottenham 1-0 in a north London derby last Sunday, decided by a 64th-minute header from centre-back Gabriel, and then settled for a 0-0 draw with Atalanta in Italy on Thursday to open their Champions League campaign.
“We have been preparing for this since pre-season,” said Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta. “Of course we knew the schedule and knew that it is extremely rare to play in these conditions with three important away games in (eight) days, but it was what it was and we prepared for it both physically, mentally and tactically.”
The Gunners picked up a home win and an away draw against the Cityzens last season, but still fell two points short of their first league title since 2003/04.
Before the 2023–24 season, City had won their last seven Premier League home games in that run; Arsenal’s last league win at the Etihad Stadium came in January 2015.
–Field level media
