City make three changes for trip to Arsenal | OneFootball

City make three changes for Sunday’s latest Premier League assignment away to Arsenal.

From the side that began last Wednesday's Champions League victory at home to Club Brugge, goalkeeper Stefan Ortega Moreno, Savinho and January signing Omar Marmoush all come into Pep Guardiola's starting line-up.

Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne revert to the bench while Ederson misses out this afternoon as he is not fully fit.

It’s Ortega Moreno’s first start since last month’s 2-2 league draw away at Brentford while Marmoush will be making his second City appearance following his recent arrival from Eintracht Frankfurt.

Oscar Bobb remains close to a comeback but hasn’t made today’s matchday squad as he continues his drive to build up match fitness after his long lay-off.

Meanwhile Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Jeremy Doku and Rodri are all sidelined through injury.

Teams

ARSENAL XI: Raya, Timber, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Martinelli, Trossard, Havertz

Subs: Neto, Kiwiro, Zinchenko, Tierney, Jorginho, Merino, Sterling, Nwaneri

CITY XI: Ortega Moreno, Nunes, Stones, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovacic, Bernardo (C), Savio, Marmoush, Foden, Haaland

Subs: Carson, Grealish, De Bruyne, Gundogan, Reis, Khusanov, O'Reilly, Lewis, McAtee

Tactics and formation

Ortega Moreno lines up between the sticks and will be protected by a back four of Matheus Nunes, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Josko Gvardiol.

Mateo Kovacic is set to provide the midfield protective shield with skipper Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden also in the engine room.

Erling Haaland will be City’s familiar striking focal point with Marmoush and Savinho expected to provide the attacking width.

However, as always, such is City’s tactical fluency and flexibility that could be subject to change.

WATCH: City's best Premier League moments at Arsenal

Box office stuff

Over recent years clashes between the Gunners and City have become box office blockbuster material and today’s encounter promises to be no different.

Last September’s 2-2 Etihad draw was an action-packed, feisty and vibrant affair and there is a keen sense of anticipation ahead of today’s latest meeting.

Going into Sunday's match, the hosts lie second in the table on 47 points with City fourth on 41.

So, victory at the Emirates would see us move within three points of the hosts with 14 games of the season still remaining and also extend our unbeaten league run in 2025.

No lack of incentive then!

Fired up Foden

It’s fair to say that Phil Foden will step out brimming with confidence on the back of what was a superb January.

The Academy graduate scored more Premier League goals in the first month of 2025 than any other player, registering six from six shots on target.

In the process he became the fifth player on record (from 2003-04 onwards) to score as many as six goals with every shot on target in a month.

The others to have achieved that notable feat are Jermain Defoe in March 2008, Dimitar Berbatov in December 2011, Sergio Agüero in August 2019 and Taiwo Awoniyi in May 2023 (all six goals).

Another strike today would see Foden get what promises to be a crucial and demanding February, featuring seven games in 25 days, off to a flying start.

WATCH: Nunes has pace and potential in defence - Pep

Stats and facts

• Arsenal won this exact fixture 1-0 last season – they last won consecutive home league games against City between 2005-06 and 2008-09 (a run of four).

• Having won 12 consecutive league games against Arsenal between 2017 and 2023, City are now winless in our last three against the Gunners (D2 L1).

• Arsenal are unbeaten in 13 Premier League matches (W8 D5) and have won the most points of any side from MD11 onwards (29). The Gunners have never had a longer unbeaten run under Mikel Arteta, last going 14 without defeat between August and December 2018 under Unai Emery.

• City are unbeaten in six Premier League games (W4 D2) and only Newcastle (15) have won more points since Christmas than City (14), while we have scored the most goals in that time (18).

• City have lost just one of our last 40 Premier League matches played from January until the end of the campaign (W33 D6), losing 1-0 to Brentford on the final day of 2022-23. We are unbeaten in their last 23 of these games across the last two campaigns (W19 D4), scoring 66 goals at an average of 2.9 per game.

• Arsenal have scored the most goals via set pieces (12, excl. pens) in the Premier League this season, while City have conceded the joint fewest of these goals (2, level with Brentford). One of those was against the Gunners earlier in the season however, with five of the last 10 goals that Arsenal have netted against City coming via corners.

• 39.6% of the minutes played by City players in the Premier League this season have been given to players aged 30 or older, the second-highest percentage in a Premier League season for City behind the 2016-17 campaign (54%).

• Since Mikel Arteta’s first Premier League game in charge of Arsenal, the Gunners have received more red cards than any other side (19). Despite this, Arsenal rank 23rd out of the 27 teams to feature in that time for fouls per game (10.1).

• Erling Haaland has scored five goals in his last five Premier League appearances for City, two more than he’d managed in his previous 13 games combined (3). He’s exceeded his xG by 1.1 in his last five games (5 goals vs 3.9 xG).