Both teams have top talent but also issues in defense that are keeping them from where they want to be City atop the table and Arsenal in the top four. Three massive points hang in the balance with a draw doing little for either, which should make for an exciting match.
Here’s how you can watch the match and what to know:
Premier League: Arsenal vs. Manchester City
- Date:Sunday December 15 2019
- Kick-off time:30pm GMT
- Venue:Emirates Stadium
- TV channel: NBCSN
- Streaming: fuboTV
Arsenal got their first win under Freddie Ljungberg last week, beating West Ham 1-3 at the London Stadium, but the Gunners face a much tougher task this weekend, as they prepare to face Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.
Kieran Tierney, Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos will all be missing for Arsenal against City, with doubts also surrounding the fitness of Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Nicolas Pepe.
Gabriel Martinelli is set to start in attack, with Alexandre Lacazette on the bench.
So, what lineup with Ljungberg go with against City?
And what will the final score be at the Emirates?
Last 3 matches
February 3 2019: Manchester City 3-1 Arsenal
August 12 2018: Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City
March 1 2018: Arsenal 0-3 Manchester City
Total head-to-head league matches played: 182
Arsenal wins: 87
Man City wins: 51
Draws: 44
Arsenal vs Manchester City score predicted:
Arsenal
Arsenal Just one win in four games since Freddie Ljungberg took over for Arsenal. Again, the defense is just awful. They need to invest heavily in January or probably won’t even sniff the top six, let alone the top four. Too much quality in attack that needs to be balanced out with an improved defense.
Arsenal could set up in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with the line-up as follows:
Leno; Maitland-Niles, Chambers, Luiz, Kolasinac; Torreira, Guendouzi; Pepe, Ozil, Martinelli; Aubameyang.
Manchester City
Manchester Cityis 17 points back of Liverpool, and they really can’t afford any more slip-ups. If they end up getting as far down as 20 points, you can consider City as no longer a contender to win the league. That adds quite a bit of pressure to everything, so let’s see how the players handle it with some key player missing.
Could set up in a 4-3-3 formation, with the line-up as follows:
Ederson; Walker, Fernandinho, Otamendi, Zinchenko; De Bruyne, Rodri, Gundogan; Mahrez, Jesus, Sterling.
Both of these teams are finding it harder than usual to win matches and its Manchester City whom we think are much more likely to come out on top in this one.
A run of three victories in eight games represents something not far off a crisis for the reigning Premier League champions, who are facing the prospect of knowing they are nearly certain to relinquish their crown this term even before Christmas has been celebrated.
A gap of 14 points – it could be 17 by the time this fixture kicks off – to runaway leaders Liverpool looks impossible to overcome and last weekend’s 2-1 home defeat in the Manchester derby was damaging on every level.
But at least City’s form is better than Arsenal’s. The only match the Gunners have won in their last 11 was a come-from-behind triumph at West Ham last Monday, since when they have also bridged a deficit, 2-0 that time, to draw 2-2 at Standard Liege in the Europa League.
Whether the Spaniard swaps the away dugout for the home one soon remains to be seen, but in the meantime he and Pep Guardiola are expected to maintain their recent superiority over the north Londoners with another comfortable success.
This is a really fun game to watch, with both side’s going all out for the win.
