The Premier League is finally back and Arsenal will restart their campaign against defending champions Manchester City. The North London club have been in sublime form with three successive wins prior to the suspension and Mikel Arteta will be desperate to keep that run going.
Links: Manchester City Team News vs Arsenal, Manchester City Starting XI Prediction vs Arsenal
However, there is no such thing as form or momentum given how the players have been out of action for more than three months now. The Emirates club are just five points behind 5th placed Manchester United with a game in hand.
With Manchester City’s Champions League ban likely to be upheld, finishing fifth or above will most likely guarantee a CL spot.
It will be a tough game, but if Arsenal manage to get past City, they will be just 2 points adrift of United, keeping them in the fight to return to Europe’s elite competition.
Here is the Predicted Arsenal Lineup vs Manchester City
Arteta has an abundance of options in defence with Calum Chambers being the only absentee. Bernd Leno has been impressive and should retain his place with ease.
Pablo Mari is likely to partner David Luiz in the centre, although it won’t be a surprise to see Arteta use Mustafi or Sokratis in place of Mari. Kieran Tierney is back and has played both the friendlies, so he should start alongside Hector Bellerin.
It’s a race between Ozil and Ceballos, which the Spaniard is likely to win. Granit Xhaka will sit at the base of the midfield slotting into defence when needed. The friendlies have shown that Arteta prefers to use a three-man midfield with Saka included, so the youngster might once again feature against City.
Arteta might prefer to go with experience, so Aubameyang and Pepe are likely to start on either side of the wing with Lacazette primed to start upfront. Nketiah and Martinelli are also in the running, but given the importance of the game, they might not feature.
Predicted Line-up: Bernd Leno, Hector Bellerin, Pablo Mari, David Luiz, Kieran Tierney, Granit Xhaka, Dani Ceballos, Bukayo Saka, Nicolas Pepe, Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang