🕟 Kick Off: 16:30 BST

🏟️ Venue: Etihad Stadium

📺 UK Broadcaster: Sky Sports

🙎🏻‍♂️ Referee: Anthony Taylor

📹 VAR: John Brooks

🔴 Arsenal Team News:

• Saka: Ruled Out. Arteta confirmed an achilles issue which will keep him out of action.
• Noni Madueke (Knee): Doubt. Forced off against Sporting on Tuesday. Arteta ‘hopeful’ that he will be fit.
• Calafiori, Timber, Odegaard: Arteta said ‘Some are quite close’, that’s all we know.
• Mikel Merino: Ruled out long-term (Post-surgery rehabilitation).

⚽ Arsenal Form: 🟧🟥🟩🟥🟥

🛢️ Man City Team News:

• Ruben Dias (Hamstring): Ruled Out. Guardiola confirmed that the Portuguese international is still not ready for match action and will miss the clash.
• John Stones (Muscle/Calf): Ruled Out. Reports following Friday’s training suggest the game has come too soon for Stones as he continues to struggle with fitness.
• Josko Gvardiol (Leg): Ruled Out. Remains a long-term absentee with a tibial fracture; return targeted for mid-May.

⚽ Man City Form: 🟩🟩🟩🟥🟧

⚔️ Head-to-Head:

• Arsenal 0–2 Man City (March 22, 2026, Carabao Cup Final)
• Arsenal 1–1 Man City (Sept 21, 2025, Premier League)
• Arsenal 5–1 Man City (Feb 2, 2025, Premier League)
• Man City 2–2 Arsenal (Sept 22, 2024, Premier League)
• Man City 0–0 Arsenal (March 31, 2024, Premier League)

📖 Match Facts:

• Arsenal haven’t lost at the Etihad since the 4-1 smashing in April 2023. They haven’t won at the Etihad since January 2015.
• Arsenal haven’t lost consecutive league games since December 2023 where they lost to West Ham and Fulham.
• Man City haven’t lost a league game at the Etihad since Spurs beat them 0-2 in gameweek 2.

📸 Previously in this fixture…

Man City visited the Emirates in September in a game that saw the points shared through a late goal from Martinelli. Despite all the chatter about parking the bus, Pep sat 11 men behind the ball for an hour and ended the game with just 33% possession. Maybe if they’d have gone for the game instead of parking the bus, they could’ve got all three points? Funny how that goes.

✍🏼 Pre-Match Ramblings

Here we are then, the big one. Made bigger by recent results. No point dwelling on what we can’t change, let’s talk about this match.

City beat Arsenal at Wembley by simply parking four players between our backline and our midfield. That was it. They disconnected our team and didn’t allow us to build up. They pressed us high, and we couldn’t deal with it. We had no one linking up the defense and the attack. We didn’t have Eze, Odegaard, Calafiori, Saka. It’s hard to say if Pep will just do that again. It worked so well at Wembley, that it might lead you to believe that he will, but is that just too predictable? When Calafiori came on (far too late in the game), he immediately played through Man City. He may still not be fit for tomorrow, but Eze will be. A player that drops between lines, controls the ball in tight spaces, and makes forward passes.

Pep will be without Gvardiol and Dias, his two first choice centrebacks, tomorrow. They were also absent at Wembley, and the chatter among Arsenal fans was that we could definitely get something out of a backline of Ake and Khsanov – we didn’t. Their defense will be stronger tomorrow with Guehi eligible to play. But our attack should also be stronger with Eze back and ready to start. I firmly believe that Eze is the key to us getting anything out of this game. Eze isn’t going to give you complete control in midfield for the whole game like Odegaard can, but he can give you moments. A single moment is all it can take to get crucial results, and we have sorely been missing these recently.

There has been lots of debate over who should start up front tomorrow between Kai and Gyokeres. I am teetering toward Kai despite his horrendous showings in midfield lately. The thing is with Gyokeres, when you are playing a top team and have him up front, you’re essentially playing with 10 men until the very final action of attack – when someone needs to put the ball in the net. He offers very little in terms of buildup and linkup with the other attackers. Havertz however is effective at far more than just scoring goals – he can control a ball for one. The elite movement of Kai and Eze together might just be what we need.

There are also discussions around who should start on the flanks of defense. I think Mosquera played against Sporting to ensure White stays fresh for City – but I also think Mosquera might just have played himself into a start tomorrow. White hasn’t exactly been convincing as of late, especially with Madueka not tracking back very well. At left back you would imagine Hincapie would play, but one could make the argument for Myles given how ineffective Hincapie was in the cup final. We need mavericks tomorrow. Myles making those diagonal runs across the field could be key, but his defensive abilities leave a lot to be desired.

The salient fact about the game tomorrow is that Man City have to win. A draw for them may as well be a loss. Arsenal are essentially going into this game 1-0 up, like we did against Sporting. Man City will have to go forward, they can’t sit back like they did at the Emirates. This game will be there for us to get something out of. Now is the time for these players to make something of themselves. Prove the doubters wrong. Please…