Premier League | Gameweek 24

Feb 2, 2025 at 4.30pm UK

Emirates Stadium

Arsenal vs Man City

Match preview

Everyone thought Arsenal would be the ones to benefit from any problems Manchester City had this season, but now it looks like the Gunners will have to forget about winning the title because they didn't beat Guardiola's team.

Arteta's men have found their feet again in the Premier League after a slow start to 2025, and have recently survived a highly controversial red card for Myles Lewis-Skelly (which has now been overturned) to beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 with a sweet strike from Riccardo Calafiori.

Whatever happens in Saturday's matches, Arsenal should be safe in their second-placed ranking before they try to extend their amazing run at the Emirates; the Gunners are the only team in the top flight yet to lose a single Premier League home game in 2024-25.

You might be surprised to hear that Arsenal have picked up more points than any other team since gameweek 11 – an unrivalled 29 – and they got another three in the Champions League in midweek, even if they did get a bit of a scare against Girona.

After former Tottenham Hotspur player Arnaut Danjuma took advantage of some poor goalkeeping from debutant Neto, Jorginho's penalty and Ethan Nwaneri's excellent finish led a much-changed Gunners team to a 2-1 victory, which secured their automatic progression to the last 16.

Arsenal can chill for 10 days in February, maybe in their favourite place in Dubai, while Manchester City have a big two-legged UCL playoff against Real Madrid to deal with after just about managing to save their continental reputation.

Club Brugge almost sent Guardiola's men packing on Wednesday, but a second-half comeback from the Citizens meant the 2022-23 winners wouldn't be ousted from the league stage.

But before Guardiola can try to get the better of Carlo Ancelotti again, he's got to deal with his former protege. Man City are finally starting to look like Man City again in the Premier League, if their six-match unbeaten run is anything to go by.

Also coming from behind to beat Chelsea 3-1 last weekend, the Sky Blues are in the top four for now, and we don't need to say much more about their form in the second half of the season. They've only lost one of their last 40 Premier League games between January and the end of the season.

But Arsenal were well known for their amazing surge in the second half of last season and they're unbeaten in their last three league games against the champions, whose domination of the Gunners ended at the Emirates in 2023 thanks to a deflected Gabriel Martinelli winner.

Recent Performance

Arsenal Premier League form:WWDWDW

Arsenal form (all competitions):LWDWWW

Manchester City Premier League form:DWWDWW

Manchester City form (all competitions):WDWLWW

Team News

Arsenal's number one, David Raya, didn't make the team that beat Girona, and Arteta says he's not guaranteed to play this weekend. Apparently, the Spanish international has a muscular injury.

The Gunners boss also said in his pre-match press conference that the tie comes too soon for Ben White (knee), while Gabriel Jesus (knee), Bukayo Saka (hamstring) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (knee) are still out of contention.

But Lewis-Skelly is now free to take his place at left-back after an independent panel upheld Arsenal's claim of wrongful dismissal, and there's every chance that Nwaneri has also played his way into a start after his terrific strike in the Champions League.

As for Man City's availability, Guardiola has said that he's not expecting any injured players back for Sunday's match, so all of Rodri (knee), Oscar Bobb (leg), Ruben Dias (groin), Jeremy Doku (unspecified) and Nathan Ake (muscle) will be missing again.

But there's good news too, as Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis are all set to return to the matchday squad. None of the new signings were eligible to face Club Brugge in the Champions League.

Marmoush's spot in the starting line-up seems pretty much guaranteed, but Chelsea's game was a total disaster for Khusanov. I reckon Guardiola won't want to risk him in the Arsenal match.

Possible starting lineup

Arsenal possible starting lineup:

Raya; Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Lewis-Skelly; Odegaard, Partey, Rice; Nwaneri, Havertz, Martinelli

Manchester City possible starting lineup:

Ederson; Nunes, Akanji, Stones, Gvardiol; Silva, Kovacic, De Bruyne; Foden, Haaland, Marmoush