Mikel Arteta looks to break 12-game losing streak against Man City in the Premier League; Gunners suffered 2-1 defeat to Lens; will Arsenal cope without Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli? Watch Arsenal vs Man City live on Sky Sports Premier League on Sunday from 4pm; kick-off 4.30pm
Friday 6 October 2023 13:39, UK
Manchester City have beaten Arsenal in 12 successive league games - but can the Gunners break the losing streak this weekend?
Mikel Arteta's side will be hoping to bounce back from their first defeat of the season at Lens in midweek. They have won five and drawn two of their seven league games this season - their best unbeaten start since 2007/08.
Pep Guardiola saw his team's perfect start to the Premier League season come to an unexpected end last weekend, losing 2-1 at Wolves. They have not lost successive league games since December 2018 in a 3-2 home defeat against Crystal Palace, followed by a 2-1 defeat at Leicester.
While Arsenal have already hosted both Manchester United and Tottenham in the league, Manchester City have yet to face a single team who finished in the top six last season.
City won just one of eight league games on the road against teams who finished ninth or higher in 2022/23, albeit that was a 3-1 win at Arsenal in February. It was the Gunners' sixth successive home defeat against Manchester City, having never lost seven consecutive home games against any opponent in their league history.
This is the joint-fifth longest winning run in any fixture in top-division history, with the combined stats from those 12 meetings further underlining the dominance of the reigning champions against last season's runners-up.
This is already the longest winning league run against any opponent in Guardiola's managerial career. Manchester City remain the only team Arteta has failed to record a win against in the Premier League, having beaten all of the remaining 23 teams Arsenal have faced since his appointment in December 2019.
Despite having the joint-second best defence in the division - only City have conceded fewer - the contrast between Arsenal's statistics at the Emirates compared to their away form is astounding.
All six Premier League goals conceded this season have come at home, and since the start of last season they have kept just four home clean sheets in the league, with just one in their last 11.
Arsenal's defence will be buoyed by the continued absence of Kevin De Bruyne - with the Belgian scoring three goals in two league wins against them last season.
Fellow midfielder Rodri is serving the final game of his three-match suspension - the Spaniard scored in both league wins against Arsenal in 2021/22. With Ilkay Gundogan now at Barcelona, none of City's midfield trio who started last season's Premier League wins against Arsenal will line up for Guardiola's team this weekend.
Rodri's absence has been felt - they have lost both domestic games during his current suspension: in the EFL Cup at Newcastle and last Saturday's league defeat at Wolves. In fact, City have lost 33 per cent of the Premier League games he has missed since his debut, compared to just 13 per cent of games when he has featured.
Arsenal will be encouraged by the prospect of facing a depleted midfield, however, they have their own injury concerns in the potential absence of both first-choice wingers Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka.
Since their first Premier League start together against Everton in December 2019, they have started 66 of a possible 142 league games, with Arsenal winning 62.1 per cent of games when they both start - compared to 51.3 per cent when at least one of them is absent.
Martinelli is almost certainly out of Sunday's game, while Saka's availability is still unknown - although he was included in Gareth Southgate's latest England squad on Thursday.
The Hale End graduate has played in Arsenal's last 87 league games since May 2021 - a club record for successive Premier League appearances. He has five goals and five assists in 10 appearances in all competitions this season.
With Saka in the starting XI or not, Arsenal will have to come up with something special to end their Manchester City hoodoo. If they are to maintain last season's position as the champions' biggest title rivals, there would be no better opportunity to stake their claim than Sunday evening.
