Man City Team News: Injuries, suspensions and line-up vs Arsenal

Everything you need to know ahead of the Premier
League clash at Etihad Stadium on Sunday
Manchester City face off against Arsenal in a
crucial match which will tell us much about the
evolution of Pep Guardiola's latest project.
City returned to winning ways against Watford in
midweek with what appeared to be a more basic
approach; Guardiola selected a back four and did
not change it throughout the 90 minutes.
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It will be interesting to see if the Catalan does
similarly against Arsenal, although he must also
work out how to cover for the injured Ilkay
Gundogan and suspended duo Sergio Aguero and
Fernandinho.
MAN CITY INJURIES
Gundogan is the headline injury, given the
Germany midfielder is likely to miss the rest of the
season with a suspected cruciate ligament injury.
It is a huge blow for Gundogan and City, as he is
capable of playing in a deep-lying or advanced
midfield role.
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Elsewhere, Vincent Kompany remains on the
sidelines, with Guardiola insisting the Belgian will
have to be in the right frame of mind to return,
even when he has recovered from his knee
ligament injury.
Fabian Delph has been recovering from a groin
injury but will not be fit enough to return.
MAN CITY SUSPENSIONS
Fernandinho serves the final match of his
suspension after being sent off against Chelsea,
and Aguero is also still out, although he will miss
the Boxing Day game at Hull City, too.
Aleksandar Kolarov is on four yellow cards and
will miss one match if he is booked in any of
City's next three games before the end of the
year.
MAN CITY POTENTIAL STARTING LINE-UP
Guardiola has a number of headaches, given he
has to replace Gundogan, Fernandinho and
Aguero, as well as decide if he is going to play to
the strengths of his defenders and use a back
four.
John Stones was kept on the bench against
Watford in midweek but he is likely to return to the
line-up, most likely alongside Nicolas Otamendi.
Guardiola is most likely to use a back four in
order to offer more protection to his defenders
and Claudio Bravo, who have struggled in recent
weeks.
Guardiola used two pacy wingers in Leroy Sane
and Jesus Navas against Chelsea to combat their
wide threat, and also their three-man defence.
While Arsenal will use a four-man back-line, the
City boss could go with Raheem Sterling, who is fit
again after a knee injury, and Navas, who is seen
as a more reliable option than Sane in big
matches, to help push back Theo Walcott and Alex
Oxlade-Chamberlain.
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However, Kevin De Bruyne took up that left-hand
side role againt Leicester City, which would also
mean that David Silva can play and Nolito can
continue up front.
With that set-up it could be Fernando and Yaya
Toure in the centre.
However, Guardiola may elect to play Navas on
the left, De Bruyne up front and Silva as No.10,
with Nolito on the bench. As ever, it will be
especially difficult to predict the Catalan's
gameplan.
ARSENAL DOSSIER
Arsenal will be desperate to bounce back from the
defeat at Everton in midweek which brought their
fine 14-game winning streak to a halt.
Arsene Wenger's side had not lost since the 4-3
thriller against Liverpool on the opening weekend
until they were undone at Goodison Park on
Tuesday.
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Shkodran Mustafi is a huge loss for the Gunners
at centre-back. Aaron Ramsey also seems
unlikely to be back after making slow progress
from a hamstring injury.
But Mesut Ozil will be hoping to take advantage of
a make-shift City midfield, while Alexis Sanchez is
in fine form and will be backed up by Walcott
and Oxlade-Chamberlain, two pacy wide options.
BEST OPTA MATCH FACTS
The last six Premier League meetings
between these two sides have produced 24
goals - four per game, on average.
Alexis Sanchez has had a hand in 27 goals in
his last 27 Premier League appearances for
Arsenal (19 goals, 8 assists).
Sanchez has scored 41 goals in 81 Premier
League appearances for Arsenal. The only
players to reach 41 goals quicker for the club
in the competition were Thierry Henry (74
apps) and Ian Wright (77 apps).
Petr Cech has failed to keep a clean sheet in
his last seven Premier League appearances;
he has never gone eight successive games
without a clean sheet in the competition.
Manchester City have been given eight red
cards in the Premier League against Arsenal;
more than they have against any other
opponent.
PLAY
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TV COVERAGE & KICK-OFF TIME
The game kicks off at 16:00 UK time on Sunday
December 18, and will be shown on Sky Sports 1.