Man City Manchester City

Arsenal Arsenal

TEAM NEWS

Jack Grealish and Rico Lewis drop to the bench while Ilkay Gundogan, Kyle Walker and Jeremy Doku all return to the starting XI.

line-ups

CITY: Ederson, Walker (C), Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Rodrigo, Gundogan, Bernardo, Savinho, Doku, Haaland

Subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, Stones, Kovacic, Grealish, Nunes, Foden, Lewis, McAtee

ARSENAL: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Partey, Rice, Havertz, Saka, Martinelli, Trossard

Subs: Neto, White, Kiwior, Kacurri, Lewis-Skelly, Jorginho, Nwaneri, Sterling, Jesus

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Formation/Possible tactics

On paper, City will go 4-3-3 against Arsenal.

Ederson will have back four of Walker, Josko Gvardiol, Ruben Dias and Manuel Akanji in front of him, with Rodrigo in his usual holding role.

Bernardo and Ilkay Gundogan will take up the more advanced midfield roles, while Doku and Savinho will be on either flank supporting Erling Haaland.

Expect Gvardiol to be the more adventurous of our defenders - much as he did against Brentford - with the Blues looking to attack from wide areas.

WHEN AND WHERE

We host the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday 22 September with the game scheduled for kick-off at 16:30 (UK).

The game will be shown live in the UK on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Ultra HD and Sky GO, and you can keep across all of the action via the official Man City app, as well as the key moments on Twitter: @ManCity.

Supporters living around the world can find out how they can tune in via our global listings, courtesy of livesoccertv.com.

Next Fixture

All fixtures

Sun 22 Sep

Premier League

Man City

16:30

BST

Arsenal

MAN CITY APP COVERAGE

Our official app allows you to follow all of the action from the Etihad in one place.

DOWNLOAD THE MAN CITY APP

Minute-by-minute text updates will begin in our Matchday Centre two hours before kick-off, while our Matchday Live show will begin at 15:30 (UK). 

Paul Dickov and Niall Quinn will be special guests on the latest Matchday Live show, offering their expert insight before, during and after the action. 

During the game you can also listen to live audio commentary from Alistair Mann and Andy Morrison 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.

Highlights from the match, as well as a full-match replay [available on CITY+] can be accessed from midnight.

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PEP GUARDIOLA PREVIEW

“Always been a tight game in the last years because they are good but we are good too,” he began during Friday’s pre-match press conference.

“In many things, high pressing, transition, they are a complete team.

“That’s why they have been our biggest rivals in last two seasons. Early stage of the season so nothing more than mood and influence for next games.

“In terms of table, it’s not so important. What will be important is when we go to London in the second part of the season.

“It’s not a motivation that we have to win to be five points ahead after five fixtures! It’s to do a good game.”

PREVIOUS MEETING

Our last home clash with Mikel Arteta’s side ended goalless last March in what was a tense, feisty affair, where chances proved at a premium at both ends of the field as for the first time in 58 games City were denied a goal on home soil.

Nathan Ake and Mateo Kovacic both went close for City whilst former Blue Gabriel Jesus and sub Leandro Trossard threatened for the visitors.

Our two league meetings in Manchester prior to that draw ended in convincing 4-1 and 5-0 victories for City. We’re now unbeaten against the Gunners at home across all competitions since January 2015.

LAST TIME OUT

Our last league encounter was a 2-1 home victory over Brentford, with Erling Haaland scoring twice, taking his league tally to nine goals in four matches this season.

We were also in action in the Champions League in midweek, playing out a goalless draw against Inter Milan in our opening league phase fixture.

As for Arsenal, they secured an impressive 1-0 victory away to arch-rivals Tottenham Hotspur last weekend and are in Champions League action on Thursday evening.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Michael Oliver.

Assistants: Stuart Burt, Dan Cook.

Fourth official: Andy Madley.

VAR: John Brooks. Assistant VAR: Richard West.

GLOBAL TV LISTINGS

Supporters living around the world can find out how they can tune in via our global listings by clicking here, courtesy of livesoccertv.com.