Arsenal welcome reigning champions Manchester City to the Emirates in Sunday's late Premier League kick-off.

Pep Guardiola's side are bidding to extend their formidable form against Arsenal in the Premier League. The Gunners have lost their last 12 Premier League matches against Manchester City, scoring only five times and conceding 33 against them in that time.

The Community Shield triumph ended Arsenal's eight-game losing streak to Manchester City in all competitions, with The Citizens winning three of them last season.

All in all, Arsenal are in pursuit of their first league victory over Manchester City since December 2015, meaning they're yet to beat them during Pep Guardiola's tenure. 

But despite the dominant league record, Pep Guardiola's men have already lost out to Arsenal this season in the Community Shield back in August. The Gunners beat Manchester City 4-1 on penalties to lift the Community Shield following a keenly-contested curtain-raiser for the 2023-24 campaign. 

Mikel Arteta’s side are ready for a mouth-watering clash at the top of the table. The Gunners were eventually usurped by Manchester City in last season’s gripping title race, but when these two sides go head-to-head, Arsenal are used to pain as they’re in the midst of a 12-game losing streak in the Premier League, their longest such run against one side in league history!

The Premier League table is already taking a familiar shape, with The Gunners coming into the weekend just a point below the defending champions following a 4-0 thumping of Bournemouth on the south coast in their last top-flight game.

The Emirates is where they’ve dropped all their points this campaign, but that comfortable victory at the Vitality Stadium last weekend did extend their unbeaten league start to seven matches (winning five), the longest undefeated opening run for the North London outfit since 2007-08. Only Arsenal and their North London rivals Tottenham remain unbeaten after seven Premier League games. 

Whereas City boast the best defensive record in the league (conceding just five goals), Arsenal have the joint-second-best (along with.... Chelsea) defense and Mikel Arteta will demand a solid performance if he is to stop Guardiola's well-oiled machine

However, the feel-good factor diminished as The Gunners head into the biggest game of their campaign so far off the back of a Champions League defeat against Lens at Stade Bollaert-Delelis on Tuesday evening.

Summer signing Jurriën Timber is a long-term absentee for Arsenal but Arteta is sweating on the fitness of key duo Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka. The latter was forced off in the midweek Champions League trip to northern France, but Arteta stated he's in contention for the weekend.

Saka has scored in each of the last two home matches against Manchester City and has been involved in seven goals in his last eight Premier League matches for Arsenal. Martinelli is yet to feature since the 1-0 win at Everton in Arsenal's first game after last month's international break.

If Bukayo Saka is not fully fit to start, Eddie Nketiah could lead the line for Arsenal, with the new England international eager to score his first goal since the 2-2 draw with Fulham on August 26. 

Elsewhere, Thomas Partey recovered from a groin issue and the  Ghanaian midfielder will be eager for his first appearance since the London derby against Fulham in August. Thus, Fabio Vieira may have to settle for a place on the bench this weekend. 

Having been dumped out of the League Cup by last season's finalists Newcastle United, Manchester City continue their treble defense.

Having lost back-to-back games at Newcastle United (League Cup) and Wolves (EPL), Pep Guardiola's side returned to winning ways with an important 3-1 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday night. It was a much-needed victory following a rare 2-1 loss at the Molineux Stadium last Saturday.

Pep Guardiola's substitutes were key for the victory in Leipzig with Jeremy Doku and Julian Alvarez, both introduced in the second-half, scoring and assisting each other.

Meanwhile, Erling Haaland has scored just one goal in his last four starts for City, which is far below his standards. He still has more goals (8) than Premier League appearances (7) to his name this season, but the Norwegian is yet to score in the Champions League and Cup games.

Haaland was involved in four (two goals and two assists) of Man City's seven league goals against Arsenal last term. The Norwegian has scored in each of his last four Premier League appearances in London. The only player to score in five straight visits to the capital for a team outside of London is Ruud van Nistelrooy.

We are perfectly aware of Haaland's quality, but Julian Alvarez is enjoying a wonderful start to the new campaign. The Argentine forward has been directly involved in 11 goals in 12 games across all competitions this term.

The record is even more impressive if we consider Premier League and Champions League matches only, where Alvarez boasts six goals and five assists in nine matches across the two prime competitions.

Kevin De Bruyne is ruled out for the foreseeable future with the Belgian playmaker recovering from an injury sustained early in Man City's Premier League opener at Burnley in August.

After the latest domestic performances, it became even more apparent how important Rodri is for Guardiola's tactics. The Spain midfielder, considered a crucial cog in Pep Guardiola's side, is set to serve the final of his three-game suspension this weekend

Elsewhere, John Stones is working on his fitness following a hip injury. When asked about injury news ahead of his side's trip to north London, Guardiola has claimed that the Citizens will be without him on Sunday despite the versatile England international being included in the matchday squad on Wednesday,

Mateo Kovacic is likely to be recalled in central midfield, with fellow summer signing Matheus Nunes and Kalvin Phillips in contention to start alongside the Croatian international.

Matheus Nunes was subbed off at the break of Man City's shock 2-1 loss against his former club Wolves last weekend.

Arsenal: David Raya - Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel Magalhaes, Oleksandr Zinchenko - Thomas Partey, Declan Rice, Martin Odegaard - Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Jesus, Leandro Trossard. (4-3-3)

Manchester City: Ederson - Kyle Walker, Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji, Josko Gvardiol - Matheus Nunes, Matoe Kovacic - Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez, Jérémy Doku - Erling Haaland. (4-2-3-1)

Of the 24 clubs he’s faced in the Premier League as a manager, Manchester City are the only team yet to be beaten by Arteta (losing all seven meetings). With that said, the Arsenal boss will be even more ambitious to earn his first league win against his former mentor.

Coming up against a Manchester City side without their two midfield maestros in Rodri and De Bruyne would ostensibly give Mikel Arteta's side a huge confidence boost.

With Ilkay Gundogan departing from the Etihad this summer and the likes of Rodri and De Bruyne both unavailable for selection, Guardiola lost a trio of fighters that have been dominating against Arsenal (and many others, of course).

The absence of Rodri, in particular, from a game of this magnitude may have huge ramifications on the final score, with Arsenal now having their own engine in Declan Rice.

The Gunners haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last 16 league meetings with the Sky Blues, since a 2-0 win at the Etihad in January 2015. This doesn't look likely to happen on Sunday, but we still believe that Arsenal might have a wonderful opportunity to break their Premier League curse against the champions.