travel to Manchester City on Sunday or else
risk dropping nine points behind Premier
League leaders Chelsea, while City also find
themselves in a perilous position after a run
of poor form.
With a Gunners a solitary point ahead of
fourth-placed City, the match will see two
sides having their title credentials tested go
head to head with the loser in danger of
falling out of the title picture.
City go into the match on the back foot, with
Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho suspended
and Ilkay Gundogan ruled out for the rest of
the season after suffering a cruciate ligament
injury in Wednesday’s victory over Watford.
At least City enter the match off the back of
a win though. Arsenal suffered a surprising
defeat at Everton on Tuesday in which they
were soundly beaten by a team more
determined to grab the three points. They
could have Aaron Ramsey back for the
match, but Arsene Wenger confirmed it
comes too soon for Danny Welbeck while
Shkodran Mustafi, Per Mertesacker and Santi
Cazorla remain long-term absentees.
Here’s everything you need to know about
the Premier League encounter.
It’s a big game for...
Nolito: The Spain international replaced
youngster Kelechi Iheanacho for the win over
Watford and is likely to continue as the lead
striker for the visit of Arsenal. He has big
shoes to fill, as the absent Aguero has scored
four goals against Arsenal during his Premier
League career.
Best stat...
3.2: This clash tends to produce goals, with
32 goals scored between the two sides over
their last 10 meetings. City’s biggest victory
remains the 6-3 demolition on December
2013, while Arsenal have not managed to
better the 3-0 Community Shield victory in
2014 as their best league triumph came in
the 2-0 win in January 2015.
Who to look out for...
Alexis Sanchez: The Arsenal striker is running
red-hot this season and the ongoing contract
negotiations with the club do not appear to
be a distraction. Sanchez has 14 goals this
season for his club along with two more for
his country, and the Chilean now has as
many league goals as Diego Costa this
season along with the same number of
assists in fewer minutes.
0 Comments