Arsenal vs Man City: Early preview, team news, how to get tickets and prediction

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Arsenal are desperately chipping away at Liverpool’s lead at the to of the Premier League table as we look to finally bring the title back to North London after 20 long years.

The recent midweek fixtures saw us claw two points back on the Merseysiders. Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw at high-flying Nottingham Forest on Tuesday night which opened the door for Arsenal. We managed to take advantage as we dug deep to beat Tottenham 2-1 at the Emirates Stadium in a ferocious North London Derby the following day.

After dominating the early stages, Spurs opened the scoring in the 25th minute with their first shot on goal. Hueng-min Son saw his effort from the edge of the area take a fortuitous deflection to wrong foot David Raya and make it’s way into the bottom corner. We responded well and equalised when Gabriel Magalhaes header found the back of the net via Dominic Solanke to make it 1-1 in the 40th minute.

Leandro Trossard then fired home a powerful left footed strike minutes later to give Arsenal a deserved lead at half-time. We continued to dominate after the break and had numerous chances to put the game to bed but once again, we lacked a clinical edge in front of goal. Thankfully, it didn’t cost us as we held on to beat Tottenham 2-1 and maintain our superb home record against our arch rivals.

The victory saw Arsenal move to within four points of Liverpool with the leaders holding a game in hand. It’s obvious not ideal, but we’re in a far better situation than we were a few weeks ago and we’re at least keeping the pressure on. The Anfield club face a tough trip to Brentford on Saturday afternoon so hopefully they drop more points ahead of our clash with Aston Villa.

City game huge

All Arsenal can keep doing is winning games and hoping Liverpool slip-up. Arguably the biggest game coming up is Arsenal’s huge clash with Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium on February 2nd. This match is going to be pivotal in our title charge and a win would be a huge statement as no doubt Liverpool are looking at this fixture and hoping it’s where we’ll drop points.

City have endured a tough season by their high standards but they are slowly discovering their form and are still right in the hunt to finish in the top four. They currently sit 6th in the table – eight points behind Arsenal so we should be confident of finishing above Pep Guardiola’s men, especially if we can beat them at the start of next month.

However, they are only three points off fourth-placed Newcastle and six off third-placed Forest, so City could still finish in the top three if they put a strong run together during the second half of the season. They may have dropped off this season, but they are still more than capable of putting a long winning run together and climbing up the table.

The Cityzens beat Leicester and West Ham recently before blowing a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at Brentford on Tuesday night. They face Ipswich and Chelsea in the league before coming to the Emirates Stadium so hopefully we’ll still have a healthy lead over them by the time the game is played.

How to watch

Unsurprisingly, the game has been selected for live broadcast on Sky Sports, kicking off at 16.30pm on Sunday February 2nd, 2025.

Arsenal vs Manchester City tickets will be sold out through the club websites, however, fans can still book a seat for the game at the Emirates by using trusted resellers such as Seatsnet.

Team news

Arsenal will definitely be without Bukayo Saka for the game. The influential winger won’t be back until late March after undergoing hamstring surgery and he’ll be a huge miss for us.

Gabriel Jesus is also facing an extended spell on the sidelines after suffering an ACL injury against Manchester United last weekend. The Brazilian will be out for around 9 months, so his season is over.

Riccardo Calafiori should be available by the time City come to town as he’s closing in on his comeback from a muscle injury. Takehiro Tomiyasu is also close to returning from a knee injury while Ethan Nwaneri will hope to be in contention as well.

Ben White is making good progress in his recovery from a knee injury that’s kept him out for the last two month but it remains to be seen whether he’ll be ready to face City in early February.

As for City, they’ll be without Rodri as he continues to recover from knee surgery. Oscar Bobb is also a doubt with a calf injury but Ruben Dias and John Stones are expected to be available for the trip to North London.

Predicted line-ups

David Raya will once again start between the sticks for Arsenal while Jurrien Timber, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes should all line-up in the back four. Myles Lewis-Skelly has been hugely impressive in recent weeks but Arteta may opt for Calafiori at left-back if he’s fit.

Thomas Partey, Declan Rice and Martin Odegaard are likely to start in midfield with Gabriel Martinelli, Leandro Trossard and Kai Havertz leading the attack – unless Arsenal manage to sign one or two top class attackers before the end of the month.

Guardiola has dropped Ederson recently so Stefan Ortega could keep goal. Josko Gvardiol, Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias and John Stones could start in defence with Mateo Kovacic, Bernardo Silva and Kevin de Bruyne lining up in midfield. Phil Foden and Savio could support Erling Haaland in attack.

Possible Arsenal XI: Raya, Timber, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Partey, Rice, Odegaard, Martinelli, Trossard, Havertz

Possible City XI: Ortega, Stones, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol, Silva, Kovacic, de Bruyne, Foden, Savio, Haaland.

Prediction

Fans with Arsenal tickets will be desperate for a win over the defending champions to maintain our title charge and make a real statement of intend. We have a superb record against the ‘big six’ in recent years and I’m confident we can avoid defeat in this game.

Our ability to claim all three points may be determined by our transfer business over the coming weeks as Arsenal are clearly short of attacking options. We got away with it against Spurs, but this squad is already stretched and it’s difficult to see us maintaining title-winning form without serious additions.

Hopefully the club can get a couple of attackers in and help Arteta push the title during the second half of the season. I’m backing the boys to get the job done when we meet City….just. Arsenal 2-1 Man City 

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