Manchester City pipped Arsenal to the last two successive Premier League titles, in a race that last season went down to the final match.
Mikel Arteta’s side will be hoping to go one better this campaign, and they remain unbeaten in the league so far, having won three and drawn one, while City have enjoyed a flawless start to their season, winning all four of their opening four matches.
However, behind the scenes City are embroiled in a legal case with the Premier League and are facing between 115 and 130 charges for alleged breaches of the league’s financial rules. The club have strongly denied all charges, but the match comes one week into the expected 10-week hearing.
On the pitch however, Arsenal have already had their share of injuries with captain Martin Odegaard not expected to be fit enough to feature against City, which will be a blow to their chances.
Follow all the live action in the blog below.
Manchester City vs Arsenal LIVE
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Pep Guardiola: People want to see Man City wiped from the face of the earth
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Teams will be announced at 3.15pm BST
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Man City vs Arsenal kicks off at 4.30pm BST
Arsenal WFC 1 – 0 Manchester City WFC
Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City clash with Arsenal is not title decider
12:45 , Sonia Twigg
Guardiola said: “At an early stage of the season, it is nothing more than the mood for the next games.
“In terms of the table it isn’t very important. It will be important when we go to London in the second part of the season.
“It is so important but in terms of winning or losing the Premier League it’s not. After five games that’s never important.
“But if we don’t think Arsenal, with the quality they have, is important we will be wrong.”
Pep Guardiola insists Manchester City clash with Arsenal is not title decider
12:31 , Sonia Twigg
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is not viewing Sunday’s clash with Arsenal as the chance to lay down an early marker in the title race.
The champions have the chance to open up a five-point lead over the Gunners, their closest challengers in the past two seasons, with victory in their Premier League encounter at the Etihad Stadium.
Yet Guardiola feels it is too soon to be drawing any long-term conclusions from the game and is more concerned about setting the tone for City’s campaign.
Man City, Arsenal and the key change to modern-day Premier League title fights
12:31 , Sonia Twigg
Fresh from a midweek 0-0 draw apiece comes a clash of two clubs whose last meeting finished goalless. It wasn’t always the case when Manchester City faced Arsenal. The problem for the Londoners, however, was that Pep Guardiola’s team scored the vast majority of the goals. Two seasons ago, matches that shaped the title race finished 3-0 and 4-1 to City. Last season, however, matches billed as title deciders ended 1-0 to Arsenal and 0-0. City nevertheless retained their crown.
But if Jurgen Klopp’s departure from Liverpool leaves Mikel Arteta entrenched as Guardiola’s biggest remaining rival, there may have been a transformation in the showpiece occasions. They have been stripped of some of the excitement. Klopp’s duel with Guardiola was compelling in part because it contained so many goals: they were more likely to draw 2-2 than 0-0 and spectacular scorelines included 5-0, 4-0, 4-1, 4-3 and 3-2. Some came with Arteta by Guardiola’s side; now they are in neighbouring dugouts and opposing camps. Allies turned adversaries, the purists have started to show a puritanical streak.
Man City, Arsenal and the key change to modern-day Premier League title fights
Man City vs Arsenal
12:30 , Sonia Twigg
Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of Man City against Arsenal, as the Gunners look to lay down an early marker in their title challenge.
While Man City will want to avoid any blip on their so-far flawless start to the season.
We will be bringing you all the build up, latest team news and live coverage of the match.
