Manchester City vs Arsenal: possible XI, injuries, suspensions update

Crunch match at the Etihad between two title aspirants - defending champions Manchester City and Arsenal, who started the weekend top of the table, cross swords, bringing Week 30 of the Premier League to a close. This will be the fifth re-encounter between Pep Guardiola and his former assistant in the Premier League - City have won all but one of them and the Basque coach is still waiting for his first win as visiting coach at the Etihad.

City pair to miss out

Both managers had a number of players out on international duty which affected City. John Stones and Kyle Walker are ruled out of this evening’s game after picking up injuries during the recent FIFA break. Walker pulled up with a hamstring injury just 20 minutes into England’s 1-0 friendly defeat to Brazil at Wembley. In the next game, Stones didn’t even last that long - in the 2-2 draw against Belgium, he was replaced by Joe Gomez after just 10 minutes and is reported to be suffering a problem.

Losing two key components at the back is a blow for Guardiola. Walker has been ever present since the season started, deployed either at right-back or centre-back while Stone overcame a hip injury to win back a place in the side playing either in the back four or in a more advanced, midfield role in recent weeks.

On a more positive note, Kevin De Bruyne is back to full fitness after sitting out FA Cup tie against Newcastle with a groin strain. He was left out of the Belgium squad for the recent games against Ireland and England. Kevin is so important,” the manager said in his pre-match press conference. “It has been a tough season for him with injuries. He has been out for a long time but he trained really well yesterday. We will see what he does in the next days”.

Goalkeeper Ederson is also set to return - he picked up a knock and was substituted in the game against Liverpool but has made a full recovery and is expected to start today. Guardiola has no players out suspended although Rodri, Kovacic and Jérémy Doku are all one booking away from missing the next game.

Arsenal wait on trio

Arteta meanwhile has three players doubtful for the game: Gabriel Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Magalhaes all missed their respective national team call-ups through injury. Gabriel Martinelli was left out of the Brazil squad with an unspecified foot injury. Gabriel Magalhaes also withdrew from the Brazil to focus on recovering from an Achilles issue while Bukayo Saka was called up by England squad but decided to opt out as he had felt muscle tightness. Likewise, Thomas Partey, who has spent time on the sidelines with groin and hamstring issues, turned down Ghana to continue working on his fitness.

Right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu has been nursing a calf muscle injury and defender Jurrien Timber has spent 39 days out with an ACL injury but is close to returning. Arteta said in Friday’s presser that he will decide on his starting XI after assessing his players in Saturday’s session

Like City, Arsenal are also suspension-free. Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Magalhaes are on four yellow cards - one away from completing a one-match ban.