Preview: Manchester City vs Arsenal – Prediction, Team News, Expected Lineups

The fourth round of the FA Cup will feature a match between Manchester City and Arsenal, which will take place on Friday night at the Etihad Stadium.

The Gunners, who easily defeated Oxford United 3-0 at the Kassam Stadium, will face Pep Guardiola’s team, which destroyed Chelsea 4-0 in the third round to set up the match.

READ ALSO: Is Zinchenko The Man Behind Arsenal’s Fine Form?

Man City is counting their blessings that a certain Erling Braut Haaland returned to form in the weekend’s Premier League match against Wolverhampton Wanderers before they square off against the only English football team that have outperformed them this season.

In a comfortable 3-0 victory over Julen Lopetegui’s team, Haaland made it four hat-tricks for the Premier League season after a rare goalless streak for the towering Norwegian. He scored three goals—a header, a penalty, and a third goal—to emerge from a brief hibernation.

Guardiola’s team had to barely move out of second gear to defeat a disorganized Chelsea team in round four of the FA Cup, despite the fact that they still trail league leaders Arsenal by five points in the Premier League table and have yet to play them this season.

Man City is attempting to avoid losing in the fourth round for the first time since the 2014–15 season. The reigning English champions have advanced to the semifinals in each of the last four FA Cup seasons, and they have amassed a nine-game winning streak in FA Cup home games, winning by at least three goals each time.

Not since a goalless stalemate with Sporting Lisbon in March 2022 have Man City failed to score in a competitive home fixture, although Brentford have proven that the Citizens are not invincible at the Etihad, and Arsenal are fearing no foe that is put in front of them at present.

Following their respective derby victory over their neighborhood rivals, Arsenal and Manchester United’s matchup more than lived up to the hype as the two teams engaged in possibly the most thrilling match of the Premier League season thus far.

After a relentless period of second-half pressure from Arsenal, which continued with Eddie Nketiah’s brace and Bukayo Saka’s wonder goal in a 3-2 victory, Man United could have had no complaints about the final result despite breaking the Gunners’ defense twice through Marcus Rashford and Lisandro Martinez.

Nketiah and Mohamed Elneny scored twice in Arsenal’s FA Cup third-round victory over League One side Oxford, continuing their skillful substitutions for injured former Man City attacker Gabriel Jesus. Oxford was able to contain an inferior side before the floodgates opened.

Surprisingly, the 14-time FA Cup champions have only advanced past the fourth round of the FA Cup once since 2017—during their run to victory in 2019–20. In addition, they were eliminated at this stage by Manchester United in 2018–19 and Southampton in 2020–21.

The last time Mikel Arteta’s club played another top-flight team in the FA Cup was when they lost to the Saints, but they arrive at the Etihad with a five-game winning streak away from home, during which time they have scored 12 goals and kept four clean sheets.

IN THREE PICTURES:

Less than a year after taking over as manager of Arsenal, Arteta orchestrated a superb smash-and-grab 2-0 victory over Man City in the 2019–20 FA Cup semifinals, but the hosts have since won their past five matches against the Gunners in all competitions.

Manchester City FA Cup form:

• W
  

Manchester City form (all competitions):

• W
  
• W
  
• L
  
• L
  
• W
  
• W
  

Arsenal FA Cup form:

• W
  

Arsenal form (all competitions):

• W
  
• W
  
• D
  
• W
  
• W
  
• W
  

Team News

Phil Foden’s absence from Man City’s match against Wolves was caused by a foot issue, which Guardiola disclosed. It is unclear at this time whether the attacker will be able to rejoin the matchday squad.

Given the lack of midweek competition, the hosts should name a strong starting XI. Haaland will continue to lead the line after rediscovering his golden touch.

However, Ederson will likely be replaced in goal by Stefan Ortega, and after just making the bench against Wolves, Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva should also have a good chance of rejoining the starting lineup.

As for Arsenal, former Man City striker Jesus will not take to the Etihad turf as he continues to recover from knee surgery, although he recently revealed that he expects to make his comeback in “four to five weeks”.

Reiss Nelson (hamstring), Mohamed Elneny (knee) and Cedric Soares (muscle) make up the rest of Arsenal’s injured quartet, although none of the trio would have been expected to start here, with Arteta also set to stick with his tried-and-tested formula.

Ben White was replaced at halftime in the victory over Man United after being worn out by Rashford, but he should keep his place. Leandro Trossard had a strong debut last weekend and might offer Gabriel Martinelli, who has been a little off-kilter lately, something to consider.

Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ortega; Walker, Dias, Akanji, Ake; Silva, Rodri, De Bruyne; Mahrez, Haaland, Alvarez

Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Turner; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Zinchenko; Xhaka, Partey; Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli; Nketiah

Prediction:

Manchester City 2-2 Arsenal

The Premier League title chase may not be affected this weekend, but fans should still watch a fantastic end-to-end spectacle between two terrific attacking forces.

However, neither Man City nor Arsenal have consistently impressed on defense this year, and we simply cannot tell these two teams apart. As a result, an Emirates replay may be necessary.