Man City, Arsenal in Premier League title showdown on Easter Sunday

ARSENAL have won every single one of their eight English Premier League (EPL) fixtures since the start of the year. Manchester City – the champions of five of the last six seasons – have not tasted defeat in their last 38 games in all competitions.

One of those proud records will come to an end this weekend, when these two in-form title rivals meet at the 53,400-capacity Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Easter Sunday (Mar 31, 11.30 pm kickoff, Singapore time).

This match has been sold out for weeks, and you’d have to fork out a pretty penny for a ticket on third-party websites or the black market to enter the venue.

Those lucky enough to be in the stands, along with a global television audience of tens of millions, are licking their lips in anticipation of 90 minutes of adrenaline, tension and drama as we move ever closer to finding out who the new EPL champion will be.

There is, of course, a third team in the title picture, and that is Liverpool. The Reds – dumped out of the FA Cup by Manchester United in extra time last week – are also in action on Sunday as they prepare to welcome Brighton & Hove Albion to Anfield.

Win this game and Jurgen Klopp’s team will go three points clear of Arsenal and four above Manchester City, before the big showdown takes place at the Etihad.

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Citizens hit by injuries

It’s quite clear that if Manchester City are to retain their precious trophy in May, they will need their goalscoring machine Erling Haaland to remain fit and firing on all cylinders for the rest of the season.

The 23-year-old Norwegian has enjoyed another prolific year so far despite missing many weeks because of injury, and he leads the EPL scoring charts with 18 goals.

He has netted 29 in all competitions, including eight in his last nine games. He relishes playing a starring role in the big matches, and he will love nothing more than another goal or two against Arsenal to knock them out of contention.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was sweating buckets as he welcomed the bulk of his squad back from the recent international break.

There was some bad news for the Spaniard as defenders John Stones and Kyle Walker came off injured while on duty with England, while midfielder Kevin De Bruyne had to withdraw from the Belgium squad due to a groin problem. Defender Manuel Akanji was also deemed not fit enough to play for Switzerland.

With so many key players out of action, Guardiola will have to reshuffle his pack carefully. He rarely loses a home game, with Brentford the last opponents to depart the Etihad with maximum points and that was way back in November 2022.

Gunners looking for rare double

Arsenal don’t have a great record against Manchester City in the EPL, however, with 12 losses in their last 13 meetings.

The only exception was in North London last October, as the Gunners, as Arsenal are popularly called, won 1-0 in a hot-blooded encounter at the Emirates Stadium. Gabriel Martinelli scored the only goal in the 86th minute to give Arsenal an early foothold in the title race.

It will be a tall order to beat the Citizens again on Sunday, and if they do so it will be an extremely rare double for Mikel Arteta’s men, having last achieved this feat in the 2007/08 season.

Arsenal do have plenty of momentum and confidence at the moment. Each of the previous three EPL teams that won their first league games of a calendar year – Manchester United in 2009, Liverpool in 2020 and Manchester City in 2021 – went on to become champions, and Arteta will be keeping his fingers crossed that Arsenal can join that list.

What’s telling is that in Arsenal’s eight-match winning run has seen them outscore their opponents 33-4. There’s a big question mark surrounding the fitness of Martinelli, as the Brazilian is struggling with a foot injury. If he doesn’t make the starting line-up, the goalscoring responsibilities will fall on the likes of Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard.

With so much on the line, it’s extremely difficult to pick a winner. The most likely outcome is a high-scoring stalemate, and that result will disappoint both managers as a solitary point could prove damaging in this enthralling three-way battle for the championship.