Arsenal vs Manchester City (Premier League): Match Preview, Team News, Head to Head, How to Watch | OneFootball

Manchester City make a trip to North London on Sunday afternoon to face their toughest opposition so far this campaign in Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal.

Since this international break, Pep Guardiola’s side have seen an upturn in both results and performances with improved defensive solidity, and more of the fluidity and expressionism in attacking areas that we were used to seeing in times gone by.

In midweek, the Sky Blues saw out a routine victory on the continental stage to make a great start to their 2025/26 UEFA Champions League campaign, beating Antonio Conte’s Napoli 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday night.

This was largely helped by the fact that Napoli skipper Giovanni Di Lorenzo was dismissed after just 21 minutes following a challenge that denied Erling Haaland a clear goal-scoring opportunity, giving VAR official Christian Dingert no choice but to recommend a red card.

The dismissal gave Antonio Conte no choice but to cut short Kevin De Bruyne’s homecoming, withdrawing him from action for the sake of energy and defensive structure, as the former Chelsea manager aimed to sit back and fight for a point.

The low block remained resolute for a very long period, with Manchester City unable to get the better of Vanja Milinković-Savić in the Napoli net despite immense pressure. Eventually, however, the deadlock was broken with two exquisite goals in the space of nine minutes; the first a fine header from Erling Haaland after an excellent Phil Foden cross, and the second a dazzling run followed by a neat finish through the legs of the keeper from Jérémy Doku.

These two goals were enough to seal victory and get the first points on the board in the UEFA Champions League’s league phase. Now, all attention turn to a fight for points domestically as Manchester City prepare to partake in a mammoth clash against Arsenal on Sunday.

On the other side of Sunday’s ticket, the Gunners come into the game in great form with just one loss from their five games in all competitions, winning the other four, with the most recent triumph being a 0-2 win against Athletic Club.

In regard to league standings, although it is still very early days, City sit 11th on six points, while Arsenal find themselves 3rd on nine, and so if Pep Guardiola’s side wish to contend at the top, it feels like even only in the fifth gameweek, this result could prove very significant.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of this clash of giants at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon!

Match Details

This highly anticipated face-off between Arsenal and Manchester City is scheduled to take place on Sunday 21st September, with kick-off scheduled for 16:30 at the Emirates Stadium.

Match Officials

The Premier League have announced that Stuart Attwell will be the man in the middle for Manchester City’s trip to Arsenal, whilst Australian Jarred Gillett will be the VAR.

Check out the full list of match officials below!

Team News

For the hosts this weekend, former Manchester City coach Mikel Arteta faces a rather extensive injury list; Bukayo Saka, Martin Ødegaard, Ben White, and William Saliba are all doubts as they face their Mancunian visitors.

Although, the quartet does seem to be recovering well, especially the French central defender who returned to the matchday squad on Tuesday. The actual status of injuries is unknown, whereas confirmed problems for those from North London consist of Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, who will certainly be sidelined.

For Manchester City, there is minimal change to Pep Guardiola’s list of absentees from midweek, with Rayan Aït-Nouri, Mateo Kovačić, Omar Marmoush and Rayan Cherki all expected to remain out of action.

On a positive note, however, we could very well see the return of Manchester City’s No.5, as John Stones returned to training prior to the fixture against Napoli, and is believed to have travelled with the squad to North London ahead of the weekend’s fixture.

Press Conference Quotes

Pep Guardiola

On Arsenal: “For me, it’s the most solid team; they don’t make mistakes at the back. They are an incredibly solid team, and they have pace up front, of course, and set pieces with Nico Jover – he was here. So in every department it’s, WHAT A TEAM! In every department!”

On Arsenal and other clubs’ spending over the years, Pep Guardiola on Arsenal’s spending: “Only I want to say to my friend, Mikel Arteta, if he wins the [Premier League] title, it will JUST be because of spending, not because he worked a lot.”

“Like Liverpool! If Arne [Slot] wins [the title] again, it will be because he spent a lot of money, right? Because it’s not just Man City that that’s happened to, right? So, all of them [do it].

“Listen, for many, many years, every club could do whatever they wanted! I know how we’ve been treated is completely different, but what they want to spend is because they want it, and it’s fine! Then the only thing I can say is they’ve been wise, spending what they believe they can do to compete against the best in the Premier League, in Europe.”

On whether he has spoken to anyone – the Premier League or UEFA – about the schedule: “Don’t go for that side. It’s not necessary.”

On whether Rodri is capable of starting three games of such intensity this week in a row: “It’s a good question; I don’t know yet. But he was so smart. I know the result was not over; 1-0 is always tricky, but if he doesn’t feel good, we always try to talk. You have to sustain. And we felt that if he’s not comfortable, then it’s better.

“We’ll see day by day, but what’s important is that he’s already played two games. Yesterday, for example, in the training session, he didn’t feel very comfortable and didn’t train well but said, ‘No, no, I will be fine tomorrow.’ And he played extraordinarily, like Rodri does.

“With him on the pitch we feel more comfortable. But of course, he’s come from a tough, tough injury; we have to be alert, and we will decide on Sunday how he feels.”

On the importance of a win against Arsenal and possible title race implications:“Listen, it’s the fifth game of the season! Come on.

“Sir Alex Ferguson, when I arrived here, said to Brian Kidd, ‘In the Premier League, after Boxing Day, stay close to the top four. And after that, you can think about it.’ Last season, after Boxing Day, we were… in another country.

“So that’s why, go today, and we’ll see what happens. There are many games. For experience, in the six Premier Leagues [titles], I think four or five we were in December and January, behind Liverpool and behind Arsenal. And at the end, we won it. So that’s why it’s seeing the team growing up – that is only my concern right now.

“See the team make a step forward day by day. We are not going to win the Premier League on Sunday; we are not going to lose the Premier League on Sunday. So we see the team, and we are better than last season there, and we are better and continue a little bit of the many good things that we have done in these two games, and we continue with that.”

Head-to-Head

In this fixture last campaign, Pep Guardiola’s side were handed a rather humiliating defeat at the hands of the red side of North London, as goals from Martin Ødegaard, Thomas Partey, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri made a solitary Erling Haaland goal meaningless as the Blues walked away empty-handed in a 5-1 defeat.

Historically, the Gunners have had the better of Manchester City; with 194 matches played between the two sides, and in that time Manchester City having won 57, drawn 45 and lost the remaining 92.

How To Watch

For UK-based viewers the game is available to stream from 16:30 BST on Sky Sports.

In the United States the game is accessible through Peacock from 13:30 EST.

Check out the full global TV listings HERE!

City Xtra will have full live coverage available on our X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram channels throughout matchday, with content also provided on cityxtra.co.uk!