Manchester City travel to league leaders Arsenal for a massive top-of-the-table clash on Thursday morning (6.30am AEDT).
City may have the threat of being stripped of league titles hanging over them, but Pep Guardiola’s men are back in the race to win a fifth Premier League crown in seven years on the pitch.
Victory will lift them to the top of the table on goal difference, overtaking a high-flying Gunners side that started the season in brilliant fashion before their lead was slowly clawed back.
“Of course, an important one, everyone knows it, we know it and we have to try to perform well,” said Guardiola on the massive clash.
“It will be a big, big battle in every department. You have to be ready.”
Follow all the action in our live blog below.
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Erling Haaland is an injury doubt after coming off at halftime of Sunday’s 3-1 victory over Aston Villa with a knock to his thigh.
“We train this afternoon and we will see,” said Guardiola when asked for an update on the Premier League’s top scorer. “Right now I don’t know.”
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Arsenal, meanwhile, will be motivated by the injustice suffered at the hands of the referees in a controversial 1-1 draw with Brentford on the weekend.
Arsenal received an apology from the body in charge of referees after Brentford’s goal was wrongly awarded because of a failure to properly check for off-side by the VAR official.
“That certainly has made our players, staff and fans even stronger and with more desire to pass this hurdle that they put on us,” said Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta at his pre-match press conference.
“We ended the game after analysing all the images that we had with a huge anger and disappointment because that wasn’t a human error. That was a big not conceiving and understanding your job and that’s not acceptable. It cost Arsenal two points and that’s not going to be restored. So we are going to have to find those two points somewhere else in the league.””
The VAR for that match, Lee Mason, has since been stood down from VAR duty this weekend.
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Arsenal have a game in hand on their title rivals, but have not won a league title in 19 years.
“What they have done in the last six years, they absolutely merit it,” added Arteta of Man City, where he was previously one of Guardiola’s assistants during their 2017/18 and 2018/19 title-winning years.
“The way they play, the way they have competed, the way they have gone through difficulties. For us the challenge is to get to that level.”
MATCH CENTRE: Line-ups, live stats and more
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