Arsenal vs Man City

We’ve got a big match coming up this weekend, with Arsenal hosting a Man City team that just drew Real Madrid in the CL knockout playoffs. Let’s take a look at the injury news, the latest odds, and everything else you need to know about Arsenal vs Man City.

The 2024/25 PL season was billed as a title race between Arsenal and Manchester City, but the reality has been anything but. Liverpool are running away with the lead after 22 games played, and Man City are only just in the CL places, even lagging behind Nottingham Forest in the table. Of course, the Citizens have a reputation for going on incredible runs in the second half of a season to clutch victory from the jaws of defeat, so both Liverpool and Arsenal will be keeping one eye over their shoulder for the next couple of months. This weekend, the Gunners host the Citizens in what could turn out to be a huge match in terms of the future of the league trophy.

The Venue

Emirates Stadium – Sunday 2 February. Kick-off: 16:30 local time.

Arsenal moved to the Emirates Stadium from their beloved Highbury back in 2006 and have enjoyed some glory days in the 60,704-seat ground over the past two decades. In recent years, the Emirates has actually been a happy hunting ground for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. In the past ten league meetings between the two sides in North London, Arsenal have won just once at home to Man City – and that came last season in a 1-0 victory. The Citizens, on the other hand, have won six of their last seven visits to the Emirates.

Team News and Injury Update

Let’s take a look at some of the team and injury news as we head into Arsenal vs Manchester City on Sunday.

Man City: Man City are looking better with injuries than they did a month ago. While Rodri remains a long-term absentee, Ruben Dias is amongst the players working their way back to fitness – with expected return dates in either late January or early February. Nathan Ake is also currently in the injury room with a muscle problem, but his return date is not yet known. Pep Guardiola has already reinforced his squad with three new signings in January, so Man City look strong heading into this match.

Arsenal: The Gunners have a few more problems than their opponents on Sunday. Obviously, Bukayo Saka remains the most significant absence, but the England star will not make his return until March at the earliest. Their captain will recover from an illness in time to play his part on Sunday, while Mikel Merino only has a slight knock. Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu are both expected back in February, but the latter stands a better chance of being involved against Man City. Myles Lewis-Skelly is suspended for the clash after his straight red card against Wolves. Gabriel Jesus is out until November with an ACL injury.

Players to Watch – Arsenal vs Man City

One thing is for certain – no matter what starting XIs Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola put out on Sunday, there are going to be plenty of players to watch! Big games like these are so often won and lost in the engine room, and both teams have players in the midfield that can provide a lot of creativity from unique pockets between the lines. Saliba and Gabriel should be in for a busy day at work against Man City’s intimidating strike force. At the other end, the likes of Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard will surely be keeping an eye on two things – the space vacated by a marauding Josko Gvardiol, and the nerves of new youngster Abdukodir Khusanov who made a howler against Chelsea last week.

Head-to-Head Record

Arsenal and Man City first met in a competitive fixture back in 1904. Since then, the Gunners and the Citizens have faced off a whopping 190 times. In that time, the Reds have recorded 94 wins to Man City’s 52, with the remaining 44 ending in a draw. In fact, the most recent fixture between these two sides ended in a dramatic stalemate – with John Stones grabbing a 98^th-minute equaliser after an earlier Trossard red card. Arsenal have scored 308 goals in the fixture, with City managing 229.

However, if you look at the recent history, things don’t look so good for Mikel Arteta’s side. Although this fixture ended 1-0 at the Emirates last season – a narrow win has been worthy of celebration for Arsenal against Man City in the past five years. In the last 10 fixtures between the two sides, Man City have managed seven wins to Arsenal’s one. That being said, Mikel Arteta is unbeaten in his last three fixtures against Man City in the league (two draws and a win). The goal ratio in their last ten meetings is 21 to Man City and 7 to the Gunners – not pretty reading if you are an Arsenal fan.

Form Guide

You can hardly separate the two sides heading into this one in terms of their recent league form. Arsenal are unbeaten in their last five, boasting three wins and two draws. Man City, meanwhile, are also unbeaten with four wins and one draw. It’s too close to call! The Citizens have endured an up-and-down past three months in domestic football but seem to finally be finding their feet again. Kevin De Bruyne is back from injury and assisting for fun, while Phil Foden seems to be rediscovering his goalscoring boots. Arsenal would argue that their past five fixtures have been a lot tougher than Man City’s having come through unbeaten against Brentford, Brighton, Tottenham, Aston Villa and Wolves.

Potential Implications

The potential implications for this match are heating up. Two months ago, it seemed as though Man City would struggle to challenge for a place in the top four, let alone the PL title itself. Fast forward to the present day and the Citizens will be eyeing a charge up the table in time to compete with Liverpool come the final weeks of the 2024/25 season. A win for the blue side of Manchester would take them just three points behind Arsenal, although they will remain at least 9 points adrift of Arne Slot’s side – potentially 15 given Liverpool’s game in hand. The Gunners, on the other hand, will see this as an opportunity to simultaneously close the gap on Liverpool while putting more daylight between themselves and Man City.

Arsenal vs Man City Odds

NordicBet is currently offering a wide range of odds on Arsenal vs Man City ahead of this weekend’s top-of-the-table clash!

Arsenal to win: 2.00

Draw: 3.75

Man City to win: 3.75

Last season, this fixture finished 1-0 to Arsenal and you can get odds of 8.40 for that to happen again. You can get Arsenal to win 2-0 at 10.00 or the Gunners to win 2-1 at 7.80. A Man City 1-0 win comes with odds of 12.00, 2-0 is 21.00, 2-1 is 11.00 and 3-0 is 54.00.

You can browse NordicBet’s full range of betting options for Arsenal vs Man City HERE.

Score Prediction

For the first time in years, this is extremely tough to call. Typically, Manchester City have always been heavy favourites heading into huge clashes with Arsenal – and they usually turned that ascendency into all three points. However, this time, the Gunners not only have home advantage, but they are also above the Citizens in the league table. There is no doubt that City are back in form under Pep Guardiola and will be boosted by their busy January transfer activity, however, they are still far from their peak. Arsenal are without Bukayo Saka – but then again, Man City are without Rodri – and we just expect the Gunners to get the job done at the Emirates.

Score prediction: Arsenal 2-1 Man City

PS: Odds might have changed since the writing and publication of this article.

Last updated: 31.01.25