TEAM NEWS
Rodrigo and Joao Cancelo both start for Manchester City against Arsenal as Pep Guardiola makes three changes for the trip to North London.
Cancelo, who was assaulted during a burglary at his home on Thursday, retains his place in the side, whilst the Spanish midfielder has returned to full fitness after missing City’s wins over Brentford and Leicester City.
He comes into the starting XI alongside Raheem Sterling and Riyad Mahrez, replacing Fernandinho, Jack Grealish and Phil Foden, who is short of full fitness and not involved at the Emirates Stadium.
Kyle Walker is back in the matchday squad after a four-match absence and joins Fernandinho and Grealish on the subsitutes bench, but John Stones and Oleksandr Zinchenko are not fully fit and miss out along with Foden.
CITY: Ederson, Cancelo, Dias (C), Laporte, Ake, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Mahrez, Sterling, Jesus.
SUBS: Steffen, Walker, Gundogan, Grealish, Fernandinho, Kayky, Mbete, Palmer, McAtee.
ARSENAL: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney, Partey, Xhaka, Odegaard, Saka, Martinelli, Lacazette.
SUBS: Leno, Smith Rowe, Maitland-Niles, Holding, Soares, Pepe, Tavares, Lokonga, Elneny.
Next Fixture
All fixturesPremier League
GMT
When and Where?
Our first match of 2022 takes place at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday 1 January.
Kick-off is scheduled for 12:30 (UK), with the match available to watch live on BT Sport 1 in the UK.
Those living around the world can find our how to tune in via the global TV listings at the foot of this page.
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Man City App coverage
As always, the official Man City app offers comprehensive coverage of all the action before, during and after our Emirates Stadium clash.
Our Matchday Centre gets under way at 10:30am, providing minute-by-minute text updates as well as analysis, stats, reaction and the best bits of social media.
And our City-focused show, Matchday Live, starts around one hour later, with special guests Richard Dunne and Paul Dickov offering their expert insight on all digital platforms.
Once the match begins, live radio commentary with Alistair Mann and Michael Brown can also be accessed on the app while those with push notifications turned on will also be alerted to both team news and when any goals go in at the Emirates Stadium.
At full time, a detailed report on proceedings plus reaction from Pep Guardiola and players will be made available, as well as a comprehensive highlights package later in the afternoon.
Those with a CITY+ subscription can also enjoy a full-match replay of all the action from midnight following the game.
Matchday Live
Richard Dunne and Paul Dickov are special guests on Matchday Live ahead of our trip to Arsenal.
The former City duo made over 400 appearances for the Club and will offer their typical blend of insight and humour from around one hour prior to kick-off, before reconvening for a quick half-time debrief.
CITY+ | SUBSCRIBE TO ACCESS EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
At full time, Dunne and Dickov will provide a more detailed assessment on the result and performance and react to the post-match thoughts of Pep Guardiola.
Matchday Live is available on all digital platforms and is broadcast ahead of every first team match.
Viewer participation is also actively encouraged, so if you want to ask Richard or Paul a question, send a WhatsApp message to: +447537186538.
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Last time out
City ended 2021 with ten successive Premier League victories thanks to a slender 1-0 win away to Brentford.
Phil Foden’s side-footed volley from an inch-perfect Kevin De Bruyne cross proved to be the difference at the Brentford Community Stadium.
Guardiola’s men went close to a second when Foden glanced a header just wide of the far post, before De Bruyne struck the foot of the post from distance in an exciting second half.
Aymeric Laporte headed home late on, but a VAR review spotted the defender in an offside position, meaning we had to settle for a single-goal victory.
Form Guide
Guardiola’s men sit eight points clear at the top of the Premier League table following our 1-0 win over Brentford in our last match.
Since defeat to Crystal Palace on 30 October, we have won all ten matches in the English top flight, scoring 31 times in the process.
Arsenal also come into the tie on a rich vein of form, winning each of their last four matches.
Mikel Arteta’s men sit fourth in the table, with 11 victories from 19 game so far this season.
| 2 |
|
Arsenal Arsenal | 38 | 20 | 14 | 4 | 69 | 34 | 35 | 74 | DLDWW | |
| 3 |
|
Manchester City Man City | 38 | 21 | 8 | 9 | 72 | 44 | 28 | 71 | WWDWW | |
| 4 |
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Chelsea Chelsea | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 64 | 43 | 21 | 69 | WWLWW |
Previous meeting
City made it back-to-back 5-0 home wins when we put ten-man Arsenal to the sword in late August.
Goals from Ilkay Gundogan, Ferran Torres and Gabriel Jesus saw Guardiola’s men go in three goals ahead at the break, with Gunners’ captain Granit Xhaka also given his marching orders after a late challenge on Joao Cancelo.
Rodrigo got in on the act soon after the restart, before Torres headed home his second and City’s fifth late on to consign Arsenal to the same fate as Norwich the week before.
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Match Officials
Referee: Stuart Attwell
Assistants: Constantine Hatzidakis, Simon Long
Fourth official: Kevin Friend
VAR: Jarred Gillet
Assistant VAR: Derek Eaton
TV Listings
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