Ederson, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Rodrigo and Kevin De Bruyne come in to the team that beat Sheffield United 3-0 in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday.
Stefan Ortega Moreno, Aymeric Laporte, Sergio Gomez, Riyad Mahrez and Julian Alvarez make way.
City start the night five points behind league leaders Arsenal with two games in hand.
Victory tonight would see us move just two points off top spot with seven matches remaining in our league campaign. Arsenal will have just five fixtures left after this evening.
Teams
CITY XI: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Akanji, Stones, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan (C), Bernardo, Grealish, Haaland
Subs: Ortega Moreno, Phillips, Laporte, Alvarez, Gomez, Mahrez, Foden, Palmer, Lewis
ARSENAL XI: Ramsdale, White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko, Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Jesus
Subs: Turner, Tierney, Kiwior, Jorginho, Smith Rowe, Vieira, Trossard, Nelson, Nketiah
Tactics
Ederson is expected to be protected by a back three comprising of Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji.
Rodrigo and John Stones should sit at the base of the midfield, with Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan ahead of them.
Jack Grealish will play high and wide on the left and Bernardo Silva will do similar on the right. They will both be looking to supply central striker Erling Haaland.
FLUID SYSTEM
John Stones looks set to be asked to play a multitude of roles again, with the England man likely to be alongside Rodrigo when we have the ball.
With Nathan Ake’s injury in Munich last week, it may mean Manuel Akanji is tasked with stopping Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka coming down our left.
As always with Pep, you can expect that to change several times throughout the 90 minutes.
Match stats
● City have won all six of our Premier League home games against Arsenal under Pep Guardiola by an aggregate score of 17-3. We last lost at home to the Gunners in January 2015 (0-2).
● Arsenal have lost their last 11 Premier League games against City, their longest losing streak against an opponent in their league history.
● We have beaten Arsenal twice this season, winning 3-1 in the Premier League and 1-0 in the FA Cup. We have already beaten the Gunners three times in a single season twice before (2017-18 and 2020-21) – only Liverpool have ever beaten them three times in three different campaigns (1994-95, 1996-97 and 2021-22).
● We have won eight of our last nine Premier League games, including our last six in a row. At home we’ve won 17 of their last 19 league games (D1 L1), though their last four defeats at the Etihad have been against London sides (Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Tottenham and Brentford).
● Arsenal have conceded at least twice in six of their last 11 Premier League games, including each of the last three in a row – they’d only conceded multiple goals five times in their first 21 this season. However, they’ve also scored at least twice in each of their last eight league games, last having a longer such run between August-October 2018 (9).
● Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has lost all six of his Premier League games against Man City – they’re the only side the Spaniard has faced but failed to beat as a manager in the competition.
● Erling Haaland has scored 32 Premier League goals for City this season, the joint-most ever by a player in a 38-game campaign in the competition. 20 of these goals have come at the Etihad Stadium, the most home goals by a player in a season since 2007-08 when Cristiano Ronaldo (Old Trafford) and Fernando Torres (Anfield) each scored 21.
