Sunday’s trip to North London (kick-off 16.30pm) promises to be one of the most anticipated and exciting fixtures of the league season to date.
Having recruited a number of key new players over the summer transfer window after having finished runners-up in the last three seasons, Mikel Arteta’s rejuvenated side are seeking what would be a first title since 2004.
For a new-look City meanwhile, the focus is on returning to the impeccable form and consistency that brought Pep Guardiola’s squad four consecutive league titles between 2020/21 and 2023/24.
However, for skipper Bernardo, the Emirates clash is less about potential title permutations and pointers and more about offering City an ideal platform to build on the momentum generated by back-to-back wins against Manchester United and Napoli so far this week.
“I would say that Liverpool and Arsenal are the favourites but, it’s the beginning and last season everyone said Manchester City were the favourites,” the Portuguese midfielder pointed out.
“Last season the favourites were Manchester City and Arsenal.
“Liverpool were not a favourite and they won the Premier League.
“In the beginning you can’t do a lot of maths.
“Of course, we can speak for our team and say that our level is still not where we want it to be, but we know that if we reach that level, not a lot of teams can stop us.
“Until February you cannot win the Premier League, but you can lose it.
“What we want is to come back to our level and get our level back to where we want it to be.”
Sunday’s clash also offers City the opportunity to try and atone for one of last term’s toughest moments.
A trip to the Emirates last February saw the Gunners eventually run out 5-1 victors.
Looking back, Bernardo said it was an afternoon to forget – but he also pointed to the way the side had responded to that setback over the concluding three months of the campaign.
“It was a period during the season where we didn’t have the level to compete with any team,” Bernardo recalled.
“They saw the opportunity to come after the guys who took away their title for two years and they came for us which is normal.
“It was tough for us for three months and then when we recovered it was too late, because we were already 25 points or something behind.
“If you look at the last 15 to 20 games of the season, we did well.
“We were the team in the second half of the Premier League which had the most points.
“So the team recovered to the right level at the end of the season but, it was a period where it was tough for us, and they took advantage.”
Arsenal v City app coverage
Our official app allows you to follow all of the action from our latest Premier League showdown with Arsenal from one place.
Minute-by-minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre two hours before kick-off, while our Matchday Live show will begin at around 15:15 (UK).
Izzy Christiansen joins Natalie Pike in the studio, with FG, Michael Brown and MCFC Lads’ Luke Stanley coming live from North London before, during and after the action.
During the game you can also listen to live audio commentary from Alistair Mann and Michael Brown while our text commentary continues.
Make sure to have push notifications turned on as well, so you can be alerted to key moments in the action, including goals, red cards and the team news.
We’ll have a quick-hit 2-minute highlights package available at 20:15 (UK), while you can sign-in to watch a free 8-minute edit at midnight.
On CITY+ meanwhile, there’ll be our popular full-match replay as well as our new extended highlights offering which features the best 20 minutes of action from the game. Both are also available at midnight.
