Arsenal faced a thrashing at the hands of Manchester City earlier this season and the north Londoners will be hoping for a change of fortunes on Saturday. What is their team news looking like ahead of this game?
After the last meeting between these two teams, the Gunners were bottom of the table. But the turnaround since then has been nothing short of impressive as they are currently sitting in fourth position. Credit must be given to Mikel Arteta and the players for pulling this off but the job is not yet done.
As for the team news, it is becoming increasingly clear that Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may have played his last game for the club. Apart from this, Cedric, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ainsley Maitland Niles had tested positive for COVID before the Norwich City game. However, Maitland Niles was involved in training and could be involved this weekend, but Tomiyasu was nowhere to be seen.
Thomas Partey will be available for selection and that is one bit of good news for the north Londoners. Though the Ghanaian was expected to leave for the AFCON, he has been given permission by his country to stay a little longer. That would be a big boost for the manager and the team.
Mikel Arteta has tested positive for COVID and is therefore not going to be on the bench over the weekend.
Arsenal Fever View:
Regardless of the result, the Gunners must look to put up a good fight against City. The players are playing with a lot more harmony and that suggests that this could be a different sort of match. If the hosts can get anything from the game, it will be a huge step forward for them.
But doing that is not going to be easy against City who are in red-hot form. They have opened up a huge lead at the top of the table and would be keen on extending their impressive lead.
Arsenal and Arteta need to believe that they can pull off a positive result by taking the fight to Pep Guardiola and his team. The Gunners do have the talent to do this and need to be careful when it comes to defending.
Read More: Kieran Tierney could take over Arsenal captaincy, claims Chris Sutton
