Man City vs Arsenal Prediction: Familiar face could haunt Gunners at Etihad

Master meets apprentice at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon (KO, 16:30) as Pep Guardiola's Manchester City host Mikel Arteta's Arsenal in a match that could go a long way to determining the winner of the 2023/24 Premier League title.

The Gunners are currently top of the table but are level on points with Liverpool and just one ahead of City with 10 games remaining. Below we have provided all the latest team news and match odds heading into this crunch clash, which is live on Sky Sports Main Event, and offered our Man City vs Arsenal prediction.

Team News

The hosts will be without defensive duo Kyle Walker and John Stones, who both hobbled off during friendlies for England in the past week.

Manuel Akanji and Matheus Nunes also sustained injuries while away on international duty and will need further assessment, while doubts still persist over Kevin De Bruyne and Ederson, neither of whom were called up by their national teams as they seek to return to full fitness.

De Bruyne did come through a training session with the Under-23s on Tuesday though, while Jack Grealish - who hasn't featured since February 27 due to injury - has also made positive steps by training this week.

Arsenal duo Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Magalhaes withdrew from England and Brazil squads respectively but those appear to have been more precautionary and the duo are expected to line up at the Etihad on Sunday.

There is more concern over Gabriel Martinelli, who missed Arsenal's last two matches before the international break through injury.

Tactical decisions will have to be made elsewhere with Jorginho and Thomas Partey vying for a central midfield spot alongside Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard, while Jakub Kiwior, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko are all options to line up at left-back, with Kiwior in the driving seat after recent impressive performances in the position.

Match Odds

Man City are 9/10 - or a 52.6% chance - to beat Arsenal and leapfrog them in the Premier League table, while the Gunners can be backed at 3/1 - or a 25% chance - to win at the Etihad for the first time since January 2015. The draw, meanwhile, is 13/5.

Both teams to score is 4/6 and over 2.5 goals is available at 8/11.

Betfred will be Top Price or joint Top Price on Manchester City to beat Arsenal with selected bookmakers using oddschecker.com for the comparison (Available from 09:30 Sunday).

Half-time - Under 0.5 goals @ 9/4

Despite Arsenal being the division's top scorers with 70 goals, and City third with 63 - two behind Liverpool (65) - there are reasons to believe this could be a cagey contest, especially in the first 45 minutes.

As well as being a free-scoring side, particularly of late, the Gunners hold the best defensive record with just 24 goals conceded in the league this season and they have kept three-straight clean sheets on the road in the competition.

It hasn't been that much easier to breach the City backline with Guardiola's men only conceding four more (28) in the Premier League. They are particularly stingy at home, where just 12 goals have been scored against them in 14 games.

No club has conceded fewer goals at home with City level alongside Arsenal, who are out in front when it comes to away strikes - the Gunners have let in just 11 in 14 on the road and just five in the first half of away matches.

Man City and Arsenal have already played each other twice this term - a 1-1 draw in the Community Shield at Wembley in August and a 1-0 win for the north London outfit at the Emirates in October - and there were no goals before half-time in either.

The Gunners are the toughest team to break down in England, and potentially Europe, with the stats backing up the eye test, and they will be the happier of the two to be in at the interval with no goals scored.

The first half on Sunday could be one for the 'tacticos' before things begin to ramp up in the second period.

Kevin De Bruyne to score anytime @ 16/5

At the time of writing, there is no confirmation over whether De Bruyne will start or even be on the bench for Sunday's visit of Mikel Arteta's side, but reports are positive and it would be a surprise if he isn't selected to begin the game against a side he has history against.

The Belgian playmaker has scored more goals against Arsenal (eight in 20 matches) than any other side he has faced in his career. He missed City's 1-0 defeat at the Emirates in October but scored in both Premier League meetings last season - two at home and one in north London.

In fact, all eight of De Bruyne's strikes against the Gunners have come in the Premier League, achieved in just 14 matches.

Considering his record against Sunday's opponents, 16/5 for De Bruyne to score anytime piques interest at the very least.

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