Alexis Sanchez
Alexis Sanchez will lead the line for Arsenal against Manchester City Getty

Arsenal will travel to the Etihad Stadium to take on Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday (18 December) with the Gunners looking to get back to winning ways after their recent midweek loss to Everton.

Where to watch live

Kick-off is at 4pm GMT. Live coverage is on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1 HD. Radio commentary of the game will be available on BBC Radio 5 Live. Catch the highlights of the game on Match of the Day 2 on BBC One and BBC One HD at 10:30pm GMT.

Overview

Manchester City will look get back to form when they take on Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday after a mixed run of form in recent weeks, which has seen them lose consecutive league games to Chelsea and Leicester City before recording a 2-0 win over Watford on Wednesday (14 December).

Pep Guardiola's side were installed has title favourites at the start of the season, but have since fallen away and are currently in fourth place, seven points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea. The former Barcelona manager will be hoping they can discover their best form against the Gunners and keep in touch with their rivals going into the festive period.

City, however, are facing an injury crisis with three key players missing from the first-team squad. Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho are suspended while Ilkay Gundogan is facing a long spell on the sidelines after suffering a knee injury during their win over Watford.

Sergio Aguero
Sergio Aguero (R) and Fernandinho are suspended for Manchester City's clash against Arsenal Getty

Arsenal, meanwhile, are also looking to stay in touch with Chelsea at the top as they are in third place just one point ahead of City and six behind the leaders. They succumbed to their first loss in the league since the opening day of the campaign when Everton snatched a late winner at Goodison Park on Tuesday (13 December) and Arsene Wenger will be keen for his team to bounce back immediately against a depleted City squad.

The Gunners are also facing the prospect of facing Guardiola's team without their first-choice back four, as Shkodran Mustafi is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury. Gabriel Paulista is likely to replace him alongside Koscielny at the heart of the Arsenal defence. Aaron Ramsey is also an absentee, while Danny Welbeck and Per Mertesacker are still unfit to return to action.

What managers say

Pep Guardiola [on Ilkay Gundogan]: "He will be out for a long time. It's so so difficult for him, it's sad for him, we're going to miss him a lot, it's unlucky, but that's football.

"Now we need him to feel we are there and wait and come back safe. He's going to be operated (upon) and be back as soon as possible," via BBC Sport

Arsene Wenger [on Pep Guardiola and his philosophy]: "He started at Barcelona, I started in an academy," the boss said. "It's not the same, but I must say he has done extremely well and he is one of the most respected managers in the game, if not the most and maybe rightly so. [He is] similar [to me] - he tries to play. Every manager has a personality and can only act with his own personality.

"You cannot copy a manager, you can only be who you are, and he has been influenced at Barcelona by the Cruyff period when he was a player. I think he has strong beliefs and that for me is the most important thing for a manager," via Arsenal.com

Betting odds (betfair)

  • Manchester City to win: 23/20
  • Draw: 13/5
  • Arsenal to win: 5/2

Team News

Manchester City

Possible XI: Bravo; Zabaleta, Otamendi, Stones, Kolarov; Toure, Fernando; De Bruyne, Silva, Sterling; Nolito

Arsenal

Possible XI: Cech; Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Xhaka, Coquelin; Walcott, Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Sanchez

Premier League