Arsenal will be bidding to return to winning ways on Sunday when they welcome defending Premier League champions Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners suffered a 2-1 defeat to RC Lens away in the Champions League group stage on matchday two on Tuesday evening, which ended their unbeaten start to the 2023/24 campaign across all competitions. The north London club don’t have much time to lick their wounds and must quickly shift focus towards their Premier League duties.
Mikel Arteta and co. will need to be at their best to beat Man City, who head to the Emirates off the back of a 1-3 success over RB Leipzig in the Champions League.
Arsenal Team News
Bukayo Saka is an injury concern for Arsenal having been in and out of the treatment room recently. He was forced off with a suspected hamstring problem in the second half against Lens, which has put a question mark on the winger’s availability on Sunday. The England international will undergo scans on Thursday to assess the severity of his injury.
Elsewhere, Gabriel Martinelli remains an absentee after picking up a hamstring injury against Everton with the forward yet to return to training. In a positive injury update, Thomas Partey made his matchday squad return against Lens after a month out with a groin injury and he is likely to be involved against Man City.
Predicted Arsenal lineup vs Manchester City (4-3-3)
Goalkeeper
David Raya has ousted Aaron Ramsdale as Arsenal’s No.1 this season, and the Spaniard is expected to start between the sticks against Man City.
Defence
In front of Raya, Arsenal are likely to shape up in a 4-3-3 formation, with William Saliba continuing his formidable centre-back partnership with Gabriel Magalhaes. The pair have to stay as tight and solid as possible to keep Erling Haaland quiet at the weekend.
Oleksandr Zinchenko is an obvious pick at left-back in the Arsenal lineup, while Ben White replaces Takehiro Tomiyasu at right-back from the Lens defeat.
Midfield
Thomas Partey, who was an unused substitute against Lens following his return from a month-long injury layoff, could be brought into the team to add more steel and energy to Arsenal’s midfield. With Partey acting as a sitter and protecting the backline, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard could operate as the No.8s in the Arsenal lineup with more freedom and create openings in the final third for the forwards.
This means Kai Havertz, Jorginho and Fabio Vieira will need to be content with roles on the bench.
Attack
If Bukayo Saka misses out with a suspected hamstring issue, Arteta could name Gabriel Jesus on the right flank against his former employers. Having played as a right-sided forward on many occasions for Man City, Jesus will be raring to haunt them at the Emirates Stadium.
With Martinelli injured, Leandro Trossard will provide creativity and guile from the left flank in the Arsenal lineup. As Jesus could find himself out wide, Eddie Nketiah must assume the responsibility of leading the Arsenal attack against City.