PREMIER LEAGUE title rivals Manchester City and Arsenal will clash for the first time this season with the FA Cup taking centre stage this weekend.
These two giants kick off the Fourth Round action in a Friday night match-up at City’s Etihad stadium.
And any bragging rights will surely breed confidence in the victor that they can win the Premier League.
Both sides are likely to shuffle their pack, with the title race hotting up and both still involved in European competition.
City smashed Chelsea 4-0 in the third round of this famous old competition.
Riyad Mahrez scored twice with Julian Alvarez and Phil Foden also netting.
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Arsenal, meanwhile, justified obvious favouritism as they saw off League One Oxford 3-0 away.
But the bookies were worried with Arteta’s side held 0-0 at half-time.
Mohamed Elneny opened the scoring on 63 minutes before two goals from red-hot Eddie Nketiah wrapped it up.
Here, SunSport previews the mouthwatering clash at the Etihad.
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How is their form?
City have won three of their last five games in all competitions, losing two.
Those defeats came in the EFL Cup quarter-final against Southampton, 2-0, and of course their dramatic 2-1 defeat in the Manchester derby to United.
Arsenal are in stunning form – unbeaten in their last five games with four wins and a draw.
Fellow high-fliers Newcastle are the only side to put a slight dent on their run, bagging a point in a 0-0 draw at the Emirates.
What is the team news and any injuries to worry about?
Man City have injury doubts over Phil Foden, who is struggling with a foot injury and is expected to miss the game.
Boss Guardiola is sure to use the clash to give some of the fringe players a chance to impress.
Gabriel Jesus, Reiss Nelson and Mohamed Elneny will all miss the FA Cup game through injury.
Like his opposite number, Gunners boss Arteta could rotate his XI, with the likes of Vieira, Holding, Tierney and Trossard given a chance to impress.
Who will be the star men?
Man City could well give Erling Haaland a breather, which could mean a start up top for Julian Alvarez.
The Argentine World Cup winner has not let anyone down when called upon, and could enhance his stock yet further.
Arsenal will surely shuffle the pack – and new-boy Leandro Trossard has an instant chance to shine.
He played 12 minutes of the 3-2 win against Man Utd, and showed glimpses of his talent.
What have the managers said?
Speaking after beating Wolves 3-0 in their Premier League clash last time out, Guardiola said: “The way we played [vs Wolves] was quite similar to the first-half when we were losing 2-0 to Spurs.
“Our game, football was really good… Today we improved, but just today.
“We’ll see what happens in the next game.”
After Arsenal’s stunning last-gasp 3-2 win against Man Utd at the weekend, Arteta said: “It was a beautiful moment at the end to win a game of this stature.
“The way we’ve done it with our people and the atmosphere that created… It doesn’t get much better than that – it was great.
“We move on to tomorrow, review the match, train well and start to think about Man City.”
What are the odds?
Man City 7-10
Arsenal 17-5
Draw 3-1
Odds courtesy of Betfair
When is Man City vs Arsenal?
Man City will host Arsenal on Friday, January 27 with an 8pm kick-off.
Is the match on TV and what channel is it on?
The match IS on TV – with ITV having broadcast rights for the clash.
How can I live stream it
You can follow ALL the action as the big two lock horns with SunSport’s minute-by-minute live blog.
SunSport prediction
How much this has a bearing on the Premier League title race is anyone’s guess.
Both managers could make a raft of changes to keep the squad fresh.
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City’s fringe players have already proved their worth this season, and this leads us to think they could sneak a win.
Man City 2 Arsenal 1
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
