How on Earth Will Manchester City’s Defence Stop the Rampant Alexis Sanchez?

The Premier League’s headline offering this weekend is undoubtedly the tussle between Manchester City and Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.

It’s a fixture that City have struggled with lately—they’re winless in five league matches against the Gunners—but, interestingly, it’s Pep Guardiola who holds the obvious edge over Arsene Wenger when it comes to the personal dual; he has dispensed with him in three separate Champions League knockout stages and has never lost at home to the Frenchman. It levels the battle a little and creates an unpredictable feel around this game.

It’s third vs. fourth—two Premier League title challengers going head-to-head. Where Man City and Arsenal walk side by side, goals always flow.

Man City Team News

The Telegraph’s James Ducker reported Ilkay Gundogan is afraid his knee injury will end his season. If this proves to be the case, it’s a big, big blow to Manchester City’s campaign and to the team’s overall adaption to Pep’s style.

Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero are suspended due to their red cards against Chelsea, and Vincent Kompany is out. But otherwise, it’s a reasonably clean bill for Guardiola to choose from. Given Gundogan and Fernandinho can’t play, we might even see a rare Fabian Delph appearance.

In Aguero’s absence, Pep has given a start each to Kelechi Iheanacho and Nolito up front; the former disappointed against Leicester City, while the latter was OK against Watford. Neither will scare Laurent Koscielny in current form, but both are capable of winning a game single-handedly.

Arsenal Team News

Wenger’s pre-match press conference confirmed that the squad for this match will be more or less the same as one that travelled to Everton. The club’s official website did reveal Aaron Ramsey is getting closer and that Danny Welbeck is a week away from full training, though.

The same squad means no Shkodran Mustafi, who has a hamstring injury, and that Gabriel Paulista will step in. The Brazilian played remarkably well at right-back when covering for Hector Bellerin last month, he but has been a little more up and down in the middle.

Wenger has some difficult decisions to make in attack ahead of this match, as some poor performances against the Toffees may give pause for thought. Theo Walcott, who has …

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