Arsenal vs. Manchester City: Team News, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream, TV Info
Arsenal and Manchester City have the opportunity to make it a very good Christmas indeed with a win in this crucial Premier League clash.
Heading into the game, Arsenal and City sit second and third in the table respectively. A victory would allow either side to make ground on current leaders Leicester City and reinforce their credentials as title challengers.
It's too early in the season to call this a "title decider." However, it could hand an advantage to either team in the race for the league. It's not just about the three points at stake—it's also about confidence and momentum.
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For Arsenal, victory would strengthen their conviction that this could be their year. On the other hand, a win for City would be a huge boost to Manuel Pellegrini in the wake of intense speculation about his future.
With both sides renowned for their exciting brand of attacking football, this stands to be an enthralling encounter. This could be the fixture to light up the Christmas period in the Premier League.
Date: Monday, December 21
Time: 8.00 p.m. GMT/8.30 p.m. ET
Location: Emirates Stadium, London
Television coverage: Sky Sports 1 / Sky Sports 1 HD (U.K. only),NBCSN and NBC Universo (U.S. only)
Streaming: Sky Go (U.K. only)
Form
Arsenal
W (3-0) vs. Dinamo Zagreb
D (1-1) vs. Norwich
W (3-1) vs. Sunderland
W (0-3) Olympiakos
W (0-2) vs. Aston Villa
Manchester City
W (3-1) vs. Southampton
W (4-1) vs. Hull City
L (2-0) vs. Stoke City
W (4-2) vs. Borussia Monchengladbach
W (2-1) vs. Swansea
Arsenal endured a difficult November, picking up just two league points and a host of injuries. However, they've recovered to win their last three games and leapfrog City in the table—as well as securing a place in the knockout stages of the Champions League.
City have suffered their own problems in the same period. Despite surging to the top of the table in August, they have since stuttered, winning just six of their last 12 league games. They oscillate between devastatingly effective and infuriatingly self-destructive.
The Gunners will be encouraged by recent performances against City. Last time out at the Emirates Stadium, they drew 2-2 when really they ought to have won. However, they avenged the injustice in January at the Etihad, emerging as 2-0 winners in what became a pivotal game in Arsenal’s season.
The Managers
Arsene Wenger is under no illusions about the importance of this game. His hunger to win the league is greater than ever after 11 years without a title to his name.
Wenger and his staff sense that this could be the Gunners’ best opportunity in over a decade to land the league, and he told Arsenal.com that the key will be remaining consistent:
"It looks to be very tight. We have played 16 games and the top team is on 35 points, so it means that the Premier League could be decided at around 80 points.
If you look at the results it looks as though the consistency will be the main priority in this league because every week you are surprised by the results. We have really established a good run so for us it’s important to continue that.
It is a massive game [on Monday]. When we play at home you want to win because we are ambitious and we feel we have the chance to come out in a strong position after Christmas.
"
Pellegrini is a man under pressure, but he remains unerringly calm. Bayern Munich boss Pep Guardiola has been linked with his position at the Etihad, per Sid Lowe of the Guardian, but the Chilean’s grace in the face of speculation is something to behold.
He told Sky Sports:
"Pep Guardiola will work here [in England], I don't know if it is next season here [at City] or at another club. Someday he'll come here," he said in several national newspapers.
And I hope he will have the option to work at Manchester City. I say that because I love this club and I hope, in the future, he can work here also. I am sure he will be very important for the club.
"
For now, however, Pellegrini remains the man in charge for now. If he is to be replaced come the summer, he’ll be determined to go out on a high with a Premier League winners medal in his pocket. A win over Arsenal would be a big boost in his march towards the trophy.
Teams News
Arsenal
Wenger’s big selection dilemma surrounds Chilean superstar Alexis Sanchez, who returned to full training in London on Thursday.
The temptation to start him must be significant: He’s one of the Arsenal players who tends to rise to the big occasion, and scored in this fixture last year. If he does play, it’s likely to be at the expense of Joel Campbell.
In the absence of Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin, Mathieu Flamini and Aaron Ramsey will continue their burgeoning partnership in the centre of the park. Flamini will have his work cut out keeping the likes of David Silva and Kevin De Bruyne quiet.
Wenger must also decide whether to go with Theo Walcott or Olivier Giroud as his starting centre-forward. However, it’s possible to compromise and include both by fielding the Englishman on the flank.
Predicted Arsenal XI (4-2-3-1): Petr Cech; Hector Bellerin, Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal; Mathieu Flamini, Aaron Ramsey; Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez; Olivier Giroud.
Manchester City
While Arsenal toy with whether or not to include Alexis, Manchester City will surely have no such doubts when it comes to fielding Sergio Aguero.
On the defensive side, however, there are some key absentees. City will be without both Pablo Zabaleta and Vincent Kompany, so they will have to hope that Nicolas and Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala can improve a partnership that has occasionally appeared to lack cohesion.
Predicted Manchester City XI (4-2-3-1): Joe Hart; Bacary Sagna, Nicolas Otamendi, Eliaquim Mangala, Aleksandr Kolarov; Fernandinho, Yaya Toure; Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Raheem Sterling; Sergio Aguero.
Players to watch
Arsenal: Petr Cech
In Petr Cech, Arsenal have a player who flourishes on these big occasions. Speaking before the match to Arsenal.com, Wenger said:
"He has brought his experience, his calmness and his leadership as well. He has been good and highly focused.
I don't want to be detrimental to David Ospina because he was exceptional last year, but Petr Cech has done it all, so he is someone who gives you an aura, a charisma that is always important in the big games for the players.
You always look around you in the dressing room before a big game and you think, 'Are we strong enough?' And these kind of faces help you to believe it. Also in the big games, the number of shots on target shrinks. But then the one save can be the difference in the end result.
"
In his last outing, Cech levelled the Premier League clean-sheet record. He’ll be desperate to set the bar even higher with a shut-out against Manchester City.
Manchester City: Sergio Aguero
The inclusion of Aguero in the City lineup will give a lift to everyone associated with Pellegrini's side.
The Argentinian is exactly the the sort of striker Per Mertesacker fears facing—quick, nimble and able to punish any defensive lapse in an instant.
Aguero's eye for goal makes him one of the most dangerous players in the Premier League. Arsenal's concentration will have to be impeccable if they're to keep him quiet at the Emirates.
James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout 2015/16. Follow him on Twitter here.
