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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
David McDonnell

Arsenal vs Man City: Three key areas Premier League title showdown will be won or lost

Arsenal host Manchester City on Wednesday night as the Premier League top two do battle to determine who will end the evening at the summit.

Reigning champions City need a victory to move ahead of the Gunners, who have hit a poor run of form at just the wrong time. Arsenal's recent league form against City has been nothing short of woeful.

Pre-dating the arrival of Arteta and stretching back into the reign of Arsene Wenger, the Gunners have been unable to best their rivals in the Premier League. City have not lost to Arsenal in a league meeting since 2015, winning the last 10 games by an aggregate score of 26-3 - including Rodri's added-time winner in north London last season.

Mirror Football has taken a look at some of the key battles ahead of the Emirates Stadium clash...

Arsenal's Tactical Approach

In their recent 1-0 FA Cup defeat at City, Mikel Arteta surprised Pep Guardiola by man-marking all over the pitch.

Arteta rotated for that game, with Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli and William Saliba all starting on the bench, and is unlikely to go with the same approach tonight, with Arsenal expected to take the game to City with an attacking line-up, even though a draw would not be a bad result for the Gunners.

City must win, so the pressure is on Guardiola to get his line-up right, and he could go with a three-man defence again, like he did for the Villa game, to give City an extra man in midfield.

City's Erling Haaland Conundrum

Erling Haaland is a doubt for Man City's trip to Arsenal (Getty Images)

Haaland is a doubt for tonight's game, after suffering a thigh injury in Sunday's 3-1 win over Aston Villa and failing to emerge for the second-half. If he is fit to play, City must find a way to get the best out of Haaland, who has not scored in his last three appearances.

In fact, he has scored in just two of his last eight games - although in one of those matches he did score a hat-trick - with City needing to improve the service to him if he is to add to his 31 goal haul already this season. If Haaland does not make it, Julian Alvarez is likely to come in for him to lead the attack.

Arsenal's Threat From Wide

Bukayo Saka is a threat for Arsenal (David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

In Bukayo Saka and Martinelli, Arsenal have two of the most dangerous wide players in the Premier League, whom City will need to contain. After City's win over Villa on Sunday, Pep Guardiola stressed the significance of Kyle Walker being back to his best, and he is expected to start, using his pace and experience to deal with Martinelli down Arsenal's left.

Nathan Ake or Aymeric Laporte will be entrusted with the task of shackling Saka, with City needing to suppress the threat of Arsenal's wide men, who pose a goal threat themselves and can also provide assists for Eddie Nketiah.

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