Both Manchester City and Arsenal will be without key players for their huge head-to-head in the title race on Wednesday.
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Pep Guardiola has revealed that Nathan Ake, who scored the winner between the two sides in their FA Cup match at the Etihad Stadium in January, has not recovered from a hamstring injury.
“I think hopefully he can be back soon, but for tomorrow he’s not ready,” Guardiola told the club’s official website.
So, who will replace Ake at left-back to combat the threat of Bukayo Saka? Will Guardiola play another trump card, as he did in the reverse fixture when he trialled Bernardo Silva there?
“We will find the right player to do it,” he said. “I have no doubts about that.”
League leaders Arsenal remain without influential centre-back William Saliba, who has missed the last five matches, three of which they have failed to win.
“There’s not been a real improvement, unfortunately for him,” Mikel Arteta revealed on Tuesday.
“We are still hopeful but obviously it’s another week that has gone by and he hasn’t been able to train with the team. We are preparing for this game without him and the next game, obviously, it’ll probably come too soon as well. We have to go week by week for the moment.”
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Man City
MCI
|
38 | +61 | 89 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
38 | +45 | 84 |
Another player who could also remain out is Granit Xhaka, the midfielder who was absent for the first time all season in the 3-3 draw against Southampton.
“Hopefully he will be able to train today but he’s still a doubt,” Arteta added.
Two players who are definitely available, though, are Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko, the players signed from City last year.
Arteta says their experience of winning four Premier League titles will be vital in such a high-pressure match.
“Experience is key when you’ve been in those moments, to handle those moments and to understand the importance of certain things when you are competing in a football match,” Arteta said.
“The capacity to transmit as [Jesus and Zinchenko] have done for the rest of the team is very, very important. They’ve done it in a very natural way. Two or three weeks [after they joined], because of where they’ve been, they said, ‘We can win this league’. “
