Man City vs Arsenal: Match Preview, Predicted Line-ups and Fantasy XI

Here we go. The big one. It's Man City vs Arsenal. Man City will host Arsenal in a top-of-the-table clash that could decide the direction of the Premier League title race.

Match Details:

• Location: Manchester, England
• Stadium: Etihad Stadium
• Date: Wednesday 26 April
• Kick-off Time: 20:00 BST / 15:00 ET / 12:00 PT
• Referee: Michael Oliver
• VAR: David Coote

Man City vs Arsenal: Match Preview:

In the last few weeks, talk of a treble continued to pick up momentum as Pep Guardiola's men fortified their position in three different competitions. Manchester City barely had to break a sweat in the context of regaining momentum in the Premier League title chase as Arsenal continued to drop valuable points.

The weekend before last, a win over Leicester City gave Manchester City the impetus to close the gap on the Gunners. After that, they consolidated their place in the Champions League semi-finals with a thorough aggregate win over Bayern and then dispatched off Sheffield United with ease to reach the FA Cup Final.

Pep Guardiola will want his side to continue with their forward momentum and keep their home Premier League form intact. Manchester City have played 12 games at the Etihad this year, winning them all and scoring at least two goals per game. The manager will hope for a 'lucky' 13 at the venue and will certainly hope to wrestle the title out of Arsenal's reach.

Meanwhile, Mikel Arteta is preparing his side for what seems like the season-defining game. A win here will instil the confidence Arsenal need to try and win the remainder of their games, while a loss could dampen their hopes beyond repair.

After leading the table for most of the season, it will come as a disappointment for Arsenal to surrender the title so late in the season. For the third game running, the Gunners drew a Premier League game, with last week's clash with bottom-placed Southampton drawing more criticism of their performances.

Arsenal were a goal down in the first minute owing to Aaron Ramsdale's error. After that, they were under pressure to get back into the clash, only to find themselves two-nil down. With the score 1-3 heading into the final five minutes, Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka got their goals, as Arteta saw attempts from Reiss Nelson and Leandro Trossard go agonisingly close.

Team News:

Man City:

Pep Guardiola's squad is bordering on full strength, but the boss will be sweating over the fitness of Nathan Ake. The Dutchman, arguably City's best non-Haalander this season, is dealing with a minor muscle injury which kept him out of the FA Cup semi-final.

Arsenal:

Arsenal are braced for confirmation that centre-back William Saliba's season is over after Mikel Arteta confessed that his recovery from a back injury has been significantly slower than expected. He'll miss this one alongside long-term absentees Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny.

The boss also admitted that the unwell Granit Xhaka remains doubtful, having not trained with the team in the build-up to the game.

Man City vs Arsenal: Head to Head:

Arsenal have a good historical record against Manchester City and have won 98 out of the 207 matches played between the two teams, as opposed to Manchester City's 64 victories.

Manchester City have scored all six of their home games against Arsenal under Pep Guardiola in the Premier League and have scored 17 goals in these matches.

Arsenal have lost their last 11 games against Manchester City in the Premier League - their longest such streak against a single opponent in the competition.

Arsenal have scored only three goals in their last 10 Premier League matches against Manchester City and have failed to score in seven of these games.

Predicted Line-ups:

Man City (3-2-4-1): Ederson; Akanji, Dias, Laporte; Stones, Rodri; Mahrez, Gundogan, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland.

Arsenal (4-3-3): Ramsdale; White, Holding, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Jorginho, Partey, Odegaard; Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.

MCI vs ARS: Fantasy XI

Ederson; Akanji, Dias, White, Rodri, De Bruyne, Grealish; Haaland, Saka, Jesus, Martinelli.