Mikel Arteta's side are chasing down leaders Liverpool while the champions are vying merely for a top-four spot heading into Sunday's showdown
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For the first time in three years, Arsenal will face Manchester City with only one team contending for the Premier League title. Not many would have believed back after their January 2022 encounter that it would be Pep Guardiola's men toiling away so soon.
The Cityzens have embraced a period of rebuild, featuring around £150 million worth of January signings and their manager tacking a couple more years onto his own contract to lead them through this relative wilderness. But following their last meeting with the Gunners in September, City looked to have found a second wind after stumbling into the 2024-25 season.
A 2-2 draw at the Etihad Stadium, during which Arsenal defended for their lives for the second half following Leandro Trossard's controversial red card, was the latest chapter in this new-age rivalry. Yet arguably the most iconic moment from that game came after the final whistle was sounded by referee Michael Oliver.
Across the pitch walked Mikel Arteta to console his crestfallen players, who were within seconds of securing a first win on City's turf since 2015. He bristled beyond Erling Haaland with a quick shake of the hand, but the Norwegian wasn't up for mere niceties and sportsmanship.
"Stay humble, eh?" television cameras picked up Haaland saying. Eyes steely and power challenged, Arteta spun back in his direction. It felt like a seminal moment and canon event in the Spaniard's story, and this weekend he has the chance for revenge.
Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Getty Images SportRivalry origins
From May 2016 to October 2023, Arsenal went a staggering 15 Premier League games without a win against City, losing 13 of those fixtures. Guardiola had the Gunners' number, and one way or another knew how to get the better of them.
Arteta gave up being Guardiola's assistant to take the top job at the Emirates Stadium in December 2019, and though league success against his mentor eluded him, he did strike a hammer blow in his first season, knocking his former side out of the FA Cup at the semi-final stage. Victory in the final against Chelsea ensured Arteta had enough credit in the bank to survive a rocky 2020-21 campaign and beginning to the following 2021-22 season, which included a 5-0 drubbing at the Etihad.
That defeat was the turning point in Arteta's reign. From there, he began weeding out the old guard and building around his young core of players, empowering the likes of Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Martinelli. When City made the trip down to the Emirates a few months later, Arsenal swarmed and overwhelmed the champions with youth and endeavour. Alas, that still wasn't enough, as the visitors secured a late 2-1 victory following a string of questionable refereeing decisions.
Arsenal missed out on a Champions League spot by two points that season, but the following term they were equals with City, leading the standings for a record 250 days before collapsing down the stretch. Crucially, they lost twice to Guardiola's side and finished five points adrift of them.
The nail in the coffin came in the final week of April 2023, a 4-1 dismantling letting the world know who the best team in England truly were. This was another flashpoint in Arteta's timeline, completely changing his approach to future meetings with City. No longer would Arsenal try and out-football them, rather tighten the game up and narrow all margins.
This has largely worked. The Gunners prevailed 1-0 at the Emirates in October 2023 to end their barren streak against City, before holding them to a 0-0 draw later in the season. Yet once more, this wasn't enough to take home the title, even if this time the race went to the wire and was only decided by a single point.
The message from the outside world was clear when Arsenal made the journey north to Manchester towards the start of 2024-25 – if you want to pip City to top spot, you'll have to beat them in their back yard. Whereas the stalemate in March 2024 was incredibly dull and without event, the Gunners showed far more ambition this time around. Haaland's opener was quickly cancelled out by a worldie from Riccardo Calafiori, and a header from set-piece extraordinaire Gabriel Magalhaes saw them lead at the Etihad for the first time in nearly a decade.
Trossard's dismissal shortly before half-time changed the game entirely, and so Arsenal resorted to the shut-up-shop approach. It was a John Stones strike away from working, too. The devastation in the travelling camp branched between melancholy and fury, with Haaland's 'humble' line only serving to boil frustration. It may yet turn out to be one more bookmark in Arteta's tale.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportDiffering seasons since
You can construe that both Arsenal and City have had unsuccessful campaigns to this point considering neither are top of the table, Liverpool instead leading the way with a six-point cushion plus a game in hand to boot. You would definitely most rather be in the Gunners' shoes than the Cityzens, mind.
Arsenal have taken 36 points in the 18 Premier League games since, compared to City's comparatively measly tally of 28. Along the way, Guardiola's charges embarked on a run of one win in nine matches from the start of November to the end of December, effectively killing their hope of securing a record fifth-successive title.
City go into matchday 24 level on points with surprise package Nottingham Forest, but with games against Newcastle, Liverpool, Tottenham and Nuno Espirito Santo's side to come after this weekend's outing in N5, they will be nervously looking over their shoulders rather than upward at their previous peers. After all, Arsenal have enough wriggle room to lose this game and still be confident of finishing ahead of their foes from the Etihad.
Getty Images SportHaaland's struggles
Haaland seemingly inflicted a curse upon himself since taunting Arteta, as the football gods have not taken kindly to his victory lap in September. After breaking the deadlock that day, he went on to score only three times in his next 13 Premier League fixtures. Though his form has picked up since and he is second behind only Mohamed Salah in the Golden Boot race, the expectation is he will be leapfrogged again by an Alexander Isak or even a Chris Wood.
But like his manager, Haaland has committed his future to City regardless. Pretty much all of his future, in fact, inking a record 10-year contract which will take him well into his thirties. Goodness knows if the planet will even be hospitable at that point, but he'll still be rolled out in a sky-blue shirt anyway.
Nevertheless, it is Haaland, rather than Arteta, who has been humbled. His heel turn hasn't quite gone according to plan and he can expect a hostile reception on Sunday. If Arsenal win, you wouldn't put it past the PA blaring Kendrick Lamar's 'Humble' at full-time.
Getty Images SportFrantic rebuild
A quiet summer window, in which only former captain Ilkay Gundogan and Savinho from sister club Troyes were added to the ranks, undoubtedly played a part in City's woeful first half of the season. Rodri was holding back the tide of regression, and his ACL injury allowed the floodgates to open. It was open season on Guardiola's men, who were too easy to play through even before the Ballon d'Or winner went down.
That was the kick up the backside the recruitment team required to bring fresh life to a stale squad. The cash has been splashed this month, with forward Omar Marmoush plus defenders Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis arriving through the Etihad doors, while they may still land full-back Andrea Cambiaso before the deadline. These are hardly household names, but they're of the age profile and requisite dynamism to help begin a new era.
Guardiola hasn't been afforded time to waste to integrate the newbies. Both Khusanov and Marmoush started last week's 3-1 win at home to Chelsea, and their inexperience, particularly of the former who gifted the Blues the opening goal, came to the fore. How this new cohort will fare under the Emirates cosh could also prove disastrous.
