Man City vs Arsenal: Premier League team news and prediction

Arsenal's 6-0 win at West Brom in the Carabao Cup in midweek will have given Mikel Arteta some breathing space, but after starting the campaign with games against Brentford and Chelsea, the difficulty doesn't let up as the Gunners prepare to take on Manchester City. City are unbeaten in their last six home league meetings with Arsenal, winning five, and after tearing Norwich apart last week, will seek to head into the international break on a high. 

Ahead of Saturday's game at the Etihad, we provide all the pre-match information, including where to watch the match, what time this clash kicks off, team news and probable XIs... 

When is kick off?       

Saturday 28th August, 12:30 GMT       

Where is the match?       

Etihad Stadium, Manchester 

What TV channel is it on?       

BT Sport 

Last meeting 

The game was settled after just two minutes when Manchester City and Arsenal last clashed. City made the trip to the Emirates back in February and after Raheem Sterling struck early on, the Cityzens were tipped to put the Gunners to the sword. However, Arsenal held firm to keep the score at 1-0 after Sterling had struck his eighth Premier League goal against the north London side of his career, marking the Gunners as his second favourite opponent. 

Team News 

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola remains without Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden due to injury for the welcome of Arsenal. Benjamin Mendy has been suspended by the club after he was charged by police. Ilkay Gundogan made a rapid recovery from a shoulder injury to feature in City's 5-0 win over Norwich and should start in midfield, while Aymeric Laporte may continue in defence at the expense of John Stones. 

Arsenal have a host of absentee concerns for their testing trip to Manchester City. Thomas Partey, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel and Hector Bellerin are all sidelined, while Kieran Tierney and Bukayo Saka will be assessed, with Nicolas Pepe in line to deputise for the latter if need be. Ben White is still suffering with the after effects of COVID-19. Willian is close to a return to Brazil so won't feature against for Arsenal, but Mikel Arteta at least has Alexandre Lacazette, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Martin Odegaard available. 

Probable XIs 

Manchester City (433) - Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; Silva, Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, Sterling, Grealish

Arsenal (4231) - Leno; Cedric, Chambers, Holding, Tierney; Lokonga, Xhaka; Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe; Aubameyang

Key Battle: Raheem Sterling vs Bukayo Saka

Of the eight goals Raheem Sterling has scored against Arsenal in his career, six have come following his move to Manchester City in 2015. On top of that, four have come in his last five league meetings with the Gunners, with the England international enjoying his time against the north London side.

Bukayo Saka got off the mark for the season in Arsenal's midweek dismantling of West Brom in the Carabao Cup and he'll hope to build on that when the Gunners make the trip to Manchester. That said, Saka's second worst rated WhoScored performance of his career came against City at the Etihad Stadium in a 3-0 defeat back in June last year, where he garnered a rating of 5.69. He'll look to make amends this time around.

Score Prediction: Manchester City 3-0 Arsenal