Mikel Arteta and his men will be looking to be the first Arsenal side to lift the trophy since 2004 in the remarkable ‘Invincibles’ season, despite coming agonisingly close in recent years.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will want to spoil the party for Arsenal and secure yet another Premier League title for his team, to make it three titles in a row and his sixth since he joined Man City.

Here at Vodacom Soccer, we take a look into the five key battles between the two sides both on and off the pitch.

Pep Guardiola vs Mikel Arteta

The phrase ‘the prodigy becomes the master’ is a real term in this scenario as Arsenal manager Arteta was formerly an assistant coach at Man City, learning underneath Guardiola.

The two managers will likely play a similar system to each other, with both sides wanting to dominate possession and play a high-tempo style of football in which they maintain the ball with quick passes.

In the reverse fixture, Arsenal got the better of Man City and snatched all three points - and this has been put down to the running of the Arsenal side which is likely to be deployed again.

Arsenal outran their opponents in the reverse fixture and will come into this game being drilled on the same intensity and being told to utilise the midfield trio Arsenal have.

Man City have excellent quality on the ball, however Guardiola does have some difficult choices to make with several first-team players being out of contention for this match, meaning the way Man City line-up isn’t confirmed.

Both sides set up similarly, wanting to optimise their possession and frustrate their opponents, however Man City will use the wings for their play more than Arsenal, who tend to stay more central when attacking.

The tactics which will likely be used by the sides suggest a very close game as both teams have excellent quality and play similarly. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Arsenal try and take advantage of the counter-attack, something Man City have been beaten by before.

Battle of Midfield

Both teams have two of the strongest midfields in the league with fantastic depth and variety between the players who can get up and down the pitch and be effective in both areas.

Arsenal’s whole game plan goes through the midfield and all three of those who are used will need to be on very top form to pass their way through Manchester City’s defensive players.

The three midfielders used by Arteta will likely be Declan Rice, Jorginho and Martin Odegaard who have all been performing at a level which will make them competitive when they visit the Etihad this Sunday.

In possession, Arsenal use a 4-3-3 formation but out of possession, the midfielders form a more robust formation in which they lock off the centre of the pitch.

This will heavily limit the play from Man City and they may struggle to get the ball to strikers Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez.

Man City will attempt to combat this through the use of wing-play to stretch the midfield and allow them to create openings in the centre of the park.

Man City have an incredibly talented midfield selection which, unlike their backline, hasn’t been plagued with injury in recent weeks and will be at full strength.

The creative mastermind of Kevin De Bruyne and the solidity of Rodri behind him will be a huge benefit for Man City, who will look to exploit the gaps in the centre of the field left.

Man City’s midfield has the experience and quality to know when to press the Arsenal back line and can be used to overload the Arsenal defence.

Arsenal’s midfield are more tactical when they press, choosing not to in situations where they are least likely to get the ball back.

However, Arsenal can sometimes use the likes of Rice to press the opposition’s defence to not disrupt the shape too much in midfield if he fails.

Arsenal attack vs Man City defence

Arsenal have been constantly lacking a No 9 striker but seem to have found the answer with 33 goals in 2024 in the Premier League competition with the attacking line-up of Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli.

This attack has helped Arsenal form a formidable team which has won every Premier League game in 2024, helping them maintain the top spot.

This lethal combination sat in front of captain Odegaard can be very effective and Man City will struggle to find an answer for that, especially with the injury concerns.

It has been reported goalkeeper Ederson is in doubt for the game which is a huge blow to the reigning champions, who use Ederson for his excellent build-up play and use of his feet.

His loss will also affect the defence who play with confidence because they know of the quality Ederson possesses if they get into trouble.

Man City’s injury worries with the defence don’t end there, as England internationals John Stones and Kyle Walker are in doubt to play with youngster Rico Lewis and Manuel Akanji expected to take their places in the starting XI.

Arsenal’s attack needs to exploit the fact that Man City will likely not be coming into this match with their strongest backline, and this could be a huge advantage for the Gunners.

Erling Haaland vs Arsenal’s defence

The star striker will be needed more than ever this weekend as he comes up against the statistically-strongest defence in the league, with Arsenal only conceding 24 goals this season.

That being said, Haaland boasts the most goals in the league and if anyone is going to get the better of Arsenal’s defence, it is the powerful Norwegian.

His main attributes are, however, nullified by the defensive variety Arsenal have at the back, his height and power in the air are matched by that of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, along with his pace being matched by the two centre-halves.

Despite that, it’s Haaland’s movement and ability to make space which makes him such a threat and the Arsenal backline will need to be wary of this and ensure someone always remains close to the Man City striker.

This then opens gaps for other City attackers such as Alvarez, Phil Foden or Jeremy Doku to exploit with their pace and finishing ability.

This further proves why Arsenal’s defence needs to be structured and always disciplined to nullify the effect of Haaland and the other attackers.

Gabriel Martinelli vs Rico Lewis

Man City’s defensive injuries mean England Under-21 player Lewis is likely to take the right-back spot as Walker is out.

Walker left the field of play in the first international friendly with a hamstring injury and will not play on Sunday.

Lewis is a very talented young player who will fill the gap but lacks the experience of his counterpart and will need to be consistently switched on to play against the mercurial Martinelli.

The Brazilian winger has scored six goals this season and compliments that with four assists in the 25 appearances he has made in the competition.

Lewis, meanwhile, has only featured 10 times for Man City and during that time has struggled to keep a consistent run of games in the squad due to the excellent depth Man City boast and his lack of elite-level experience.

The young player will likely be called upon on Sunday in what could be the defining game of the season in terms of the title race with both sides eyeing up the title.

Lewis will need to be aware of Martinelli’s pace and ability to take on a man, which can almost be guaranteed when he faces a less experienced player.

This can also suggest that Arsenal will focus a lot of their attack down the left-hand side as Martinelli will likely have the advantage over Man City down the left flank.

Lewis has the pace and the bravery to stand up to Martinelli and we can assume he will be offered additional support by the right-centre back who may need to cover the young full-back.

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