Tuesday 24 / December / 2024
Manchester: In what could be a potential title-decider in the ongoing season of the English Premier League, table-toppers Arsenal will go to battle against arch nemesis Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester in a blockbuster clash on Sunday.
City are in red-hot form currently, winning four previous matches and drawing another. They will go into the Arsenal clash on the back of a 2-0 win over Newcastle United. Bernardo Silva scored a brace in the clinical win for the defending champions.
Burly City marksman Erling Halaand to play a pivotal role in the match against Arsenal. He will lead City's attack from the front, along with teammate Phil Foden. In what has been a prolific season, the Norwegian striker already has 18 goals against his name and is currently the top scorer for City. Foden is the second-top scorer for the Manchester-based club. The two, between themselves, have scored 11 goals for the defending champions.
Presently, the Blues are holding third place in the PL standings with 63 points. The Pep Guardiola-led side has played 28 matches, winning 19 and losing just three.
The Gunners, on the other hand, currently top the table with 64 points. They have played 28 matches in the league so far, winning 20. In their previous five encounters, Arsenal scored thumping wins in four.
Mikel Arteta's side last suffered a loss against FC Porto in the first-leg of the UEFA Champions League (UCL) clash at the Emirates Stadium, their homeground. In their last few matches, Arsenal have clinched wins by massive margins that will have boosted their confidence going into the big game on Sunday.
Bukayo Saka will be leading the the Gunners' front line. He has scored 13 goals for his side in the ongoing season, with Kai Havertz at second with 8 goals against his name.
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, City manager Pep Guardiola said from now on, every game in the PL is important to win the league. He hoped that his players will give their best in the forthcoming matches.
"The season has been really good winning two titles after what happened last season. We are in contention for three main titles of the season. We make incredible work. Last 10 games of Premier League, we start an important time. I am sure the people will give us what we need to perform our best. Right now every game is so important. If we are able to do it, next game will be so important as well," Guardiola was quoted by Manchester City's website as saying.
Talking about Kevin De Bruyne's recovery from injury, the Catalan manager said the Belgian midfielder has trained before the game and was likely to play in the upcoming match.
"Kevin is so important. It has been a tough season for him with injuries. He has been out for a long time but he trained really well yesterday. We will see what he does in the next days," Pep added.
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said the momentum of the team is 'different' as some players from the squad have suffered few injuries.
"It is different. Momentum is different, we had certain results and some big injuries in that moment but those experiences are there to learn from. Sometimes we have to clap the opponent when they are better than you and that was the case on the day, learn from it and challenge yourself to be better," Arteta was quoted by Arsenal's official website as saying.
Talking about the last season when Arsenal came close to winning title but fell short, he added that many factors did not work in the previous season. The Spaniard also praised City for maintaining a winning streak.
"[Last season] there were many factors that didn't help us. We got the injuries in the Sporting game, and there was a lot happening and that momentum shifted to a more negative momentum. We were struggling to keep up [with City] because they kept winning, they won 14 or 15 games in a row and they managed to do it," he added.
Arteta added that they will be playing the same way at the Etihad Stadium, which they do in front of their home fans.
"We try to play the same way away that we do at home and have that belief and aggression in our play. You have to play every team twice and we know the fixtures that we have, but I'm looking forward to it," he added.
The last time these two teams faced each other was on October 8, last year, when the Gunners clinched a 1-0 win over City. (ANI)
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