Manchester City vs Arsenal: Six things to watch in winner-takes-all title race showdown | OneFootball

This is the big one – it’s Manchester City vs Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium this Sunday in what increasingly feels like winner-takes-all in this season’s Premier League title race.

The Gunners go into the game top of the table, albeit only with a slender lead that Man City can cut into, while Pep Guardiola’s side also have a game in hand over their rivals.

Bukayo Saka will miss out, Martin Odegaard’s fitness is not yet certain, while Erling Haaland’s form will be one key detail to watch.

They met in the Carabao Cup final just a few weeks ago but this game arguably feels even bigger, as it’s almost a cup final for the Premier League title itself, whilst potentially also giving Arsenal a springboard to compete for the Champions League.

Read on as we identify the six main things to watch out for in this Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash…

Arsenal may have to play for a draw, but is it enough?

While there’s in some way more pressure on Arsenal going into this game due to the fact that they’re chasing a first title in 22 years, it’s worth remembering that City actually arguably need the win more or their title hopes would likely be over.

In which case, we may see Arsenal play for a draw, as it might suit them to rely more on their strong defensive record, particularly while they have so many key attacking players like Bukayo Saka, and potentially also Martin Odegaard, out injured for this game.

And yet, it feels like the one thing Arsenal have lacked in recent title challenges is that statement victory away from home. They’ve drawn their last two visits to the Etihad, which is some progress since that highly damaging 4-1 loss in 2022/23, but a bit more ambition in that 0-0 draw late on the following season would have seen the title go to north London instead of Manchester.

It’s important not to let emotions get the better of Arsenal, though, and Mikel Arteta will surely know that a point keeps City a decent distance behind, with the destination of the trophy out of their hands.

How will the Carabao Cup final will impact the psychology of the game?

We know these two met very recently in another big game, and on that occasion it was City who came out on top, lifting the Carabao Cup after a 2-0 win over Arsenal at Wembley.

In many ways, it’s the perfect test for Arsenal’s players, who stayed and watched City lifting the cup and celebrating in front of them – can you respond? Can you learn from the mistakes of that day? Or will that defeat only inhibit your performance?

City are the far more experienced side in terms of getting over the line and winning major trophies, so one imagines that will only boost their confidence for this match. Winning tends to beget more winning, though of course this hasn’t exactly been a vintage City side this season, so could some complacency also kick in?

What to make of Arsenal’s big-game record?

Until defeats against Liverpool and Manchester United this season, Arsenal were on a lengthy unbeaten run against the so-called ‘big six’ sides in league matches.

Arteta tends to know how to get something extra from his players in these important games, but the catch is that City, particularly away from home, have been a bit of an exception to that rule.

Arsenal have drawn their last two games at the Etihad, and were only a matter of seconds away from winning with just ten men last season, but it’s undoubtedly a difficult ground for them, with the north Londoners failing to win there since all the way back in 2015.

Given that Arsenal aren’t in great form right now, while City have picked up, this is probably not the fixture they’d ideally pick if they could, but it’s also true that they don’t have to be perfect – a draw there for a third season in a row would not be a bad result by any means.

How will injuries impact things?

Another worry for Arsenal is the sheer number of injuries they’ve had, with Bukayo Saka confirmed as missing this game, while it’s not yet clear if Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber, and Riccardo Calafiori will return. Even if they do, they’re unlikely to be at peak fitness or form.

City mainly have a clean bill of health, though, with Pep Guardiola confirming that Nico O’Reilly will be back, though Ruben Dias is still out and that’s a pretty big loss, while Josko Gvardiol also remains a long-term absentee.

The issue for Arsenal is that their main injuries are in attack, which is already the main area of weakness in their current squad. Noni Madueke is really no substitute for a fully fit and in-form Saka, and even if Eberechi Eze being back is a big boost, there’s no one else who offers quite the same ability to dictate a game as Odegaard does.

Eze was missed in the Carabao Cup final, so he can provide a bit of spark in the final third for Arsenal, but for the most part this current situation probably only adds to the north Londoners’ need to set up quite defensively.

Can Erling Haaland return to form?

Strangely, it’s gone a little unnoticed, but Erling Haaland really hasn’t been in great form for a while now.

The Norway international has a good record against the Gunners, scoring home and away against them last season, as well as in their encounter at the Emirates earlier on in this campaign.

In total, Haaland has 33 goals in 45 games this season, but in his last 13 league games he has just three goals, two of which came from the penalty spot.

Of course, it would be unwise to ignore the fact that he recently scored a hat-trick in the FA Cup win against Liverpool. It’s possible that we’re about to see him get back to his best form, though at the moment he doesn’t look like someone who’s going to have a lot of joy against William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes.

Can Arsenal respond to bottler tag?

We’ve all seen it by now, so surely the Arsenal players have as well.

We’re talking, of course, about this viral clip from last weekend when City won 3-0 way to Chelsea just a day after Arsenal’s slip-up in the 2-1 defeat at home to Bournemouth.

This kind of thing surely has to fire Arsenal up to prove their critics wrong. This a club that has been mocked and ridiculed as bottlers for far too long. They may never get a better chance to finally change people’s perspectives.

How do you see this game going, and who do you ultimately expect to go on and win the league? Let us know your thoughts and predictions in the comments!