Both sides have started the new season well and are once again considered as favourites to fight it out for the Premier League title.
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Arsenal welcome Manchester City to the Emirates Stadium for what will be the game of the Premier League weekend. The Gunners and City were engaged in an entertaining two-way title race last season. For long periods, Arsenal held the advantage, however, they slipped at the business end of the campaign, allowing City to gain the lead. The Manchester blues made the most of it to win the league title in the end.
Both sides have started the new season well and are once again considered as favourites to fight it out for the Premier League title. However, the big question for Arsenal will be whether their star winger, Bukayo Saka, be available to face Manchester City. Mikel Arteta, quoted by Arsenal.com, told in his pre-match press conference, “Well, he is in contention, we’ll see how he progresses from here to Sunday. Obviously he had to leave the pitch [against RC Lens], that’s never good news, but let’s see how he recovers.”
However, the Arsenal manager refused the divulge what was Saka’s injury, saying, “I leave that for the doctors!” Arteta was then asked to inform about the fitness situation of their midfielder Thomas Partey. “Well, he’s ahead of schedule that’s for sure. We wanted to have him in the squad if we needed to, the way the game panned out we had other necessities and we didn’t use him. He will be in the squad tomorrow,” he responded.
Arsenal have made a brilliant start to the season, something that has gotten a lot of their supporters excited. Speaking about it, he said, “Well, consistency, that’s for sure. That’s what we are looking for in this league, you have to be at your best every single match, we have managed to win a lot of games, something that we have been better at is when you cannot win, don’t lose it, except for midweek in the Champions League, and that’s what it requires, every three days you have to be at your best.”
One of the new signings for Arsenal this season was goalkeeper David Raya. Known for his excellent distribution, Raya’s arrival has undoubtedly strengthened their goalkeeping department, which already had the consistent Aaron Ramsdale in their ranks. Asked how Raya has settled in, Arteta replied, “Very good. Around the players, with his teammates, around the club, he knows London really well, he knows the way we play and he’s used to that and he knows the league, so he’s done exceptionally well.”
It is important to note that Arsenal have already beaten Manchester City in a penalty shootout to win the Community Shield in the summer. Asked whether if anything can be taken from that win, Arteta responded, “Well, that was an important one for us. To win a title against Man City is always something you have to value, the way we did it as well and it gives us confidence and belief that we can beat them. Well, that was a while ago obviously. It was after pre-season, we had some players available, some players not available, we are much more into the season, so I think it will be a different game.”
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