While we made it five wins and two draws from our opening seven games by beating Bournemouth last weekend, at the same time Pep Guardiola’s team fell to a 2-1 defeat at Wolves. However, they’ve not lost back-to-back league games since 2018.
The reigning treble holders head to north London juggling numerous suspensions and injuries in recent weeks, and having pipped them to the Community Shield back in August we head into this particular encounter with many reasons to believe we can finally end a 12-game league-losing run against the Sky Blues.
Jittery City
Hwang Hee-chan scores for Wolves against Manchester City
Things were going swimmingly for City until recent weeks. Six straight wins in the Premier League propelled them to top spot, while Red Star Belgrade were seen off in their Champions League opener as the Treble winners picked up where they left off at the end of last season.
But a rotated side were beaten 1-0 by Newcastle United at St James’ Park to end their interest in the League Cup at the first hurdle, and then Wolves stunned Guardiola’s team by clinching a 2-1 success at Molineux to end the unbeaten league start.
Normal service was resumed on Wednesday night when RB Leipzig were swept aside 3-1 away from home in the Champions League, but only thanks to late strikes from Julian Alvarez - his fourth in his last five games - and summer recruit Jeremy Doku.
Arteta: "I think that we have the best atmosphere ever at the Emirates and if we can create that then it’s going to be so helpful for the team. We have moments where we have managed it exceptionally well. Against PSV was a really good example and certain parts against Spurs, but that’s down to us. Hopefully the crowd can give us that and that will be a big plus for us.We aren’t looking back [at our previous record against City] because there were different players participating in those games, but we know one thing for certain, we’re going to have to be at our best. We have to be at our best in every department for 100 minutes. Then we have a chance." - read every word from Mikel's pre-match press conference
Pep Guardiola during Manchester City's win against RB Leipzig
Guardiola: "Absolutely [Arsenal will be title rivals], along with Liverpool. To analyse contenders, the idea is the first 10 games. We haven't played 10; we have to wait but big clubs are always contenders.
“Arsenal is back. When I was a young boy and starting as a manager at Barcelona. I know they fought Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United team. Then for many years they were not there but now they're back. It's a contender yes and when you see in the calendar it says you go to the Emirates, it’s a tougher one.
“This [game] will not define a lot. It will be different when they come here at the Etihad - then it will depend on the situations we are in."
Talking tactics
Rodri playing for Manchester City
Adrian Clarke, writing in the official matchday programme: After enjoying success with an unusual 3-2-4-1 shape towards the end of last season, Guardiola has reverted to 4-2-3-1 in all seven league games. The absence of John Stones, who performed superbly in an engine room role, could be a factor behind that decision.
City have produced a division-high 164 sequences of 10 or more passes so far this season, a rise of three per game compared to 2022/23, and the champions are extremely patient before exploding into life around the box. Rapid switches of play occur regularly, and when defences are stretched, they slip passes into runners who burst into the area from deep.
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