Premier League Preview: Gunners have first opportunity to blow title-race wide open

It is late-April and Mikel Arteta cuts a disheveled figure on the sidelines of a stadium he knows all too well from years spent learning his trade under one of modern football’s greatest oracles.

The Spaniard has transitioned from a fine midfielder to a promising young manager and cut his teeth in the coaching world as Pep Guardiola’s understudy at Manchester City between the years of 2016-2019. Four years on from what was a memorable and trophy-laden three-year stint at the Etihad, the emotions he would’ve felt on that very same touchline could not have been more different for the 41-year-old.

Now in charge of Arsenal, Arteta witnessed his side – who were so dominant for so long last season and for the most-part looked as though they would win the Premier League – completely capitulate under the pressure mounted by a juggernaut lacking in any kind of mercy or sentiment when the stakes are high.

In what was billed as a clash of equals pre-match, the 4-1 drubbing laid on in typical five-star style by a swashbuckling Manchester City team with a treble firmly in their sights ensured that by the time the full-time whistle was blown, it was anything but.

In truth, it was men against boys, and the performance highlighted just how much work was still required by Arteta and his young band of stars if they want to seriously compete with a team that at times display such incomprehensible dominance. Arteta will have been disappointed by that night in isolation but seeing his previous mentor go on and win the title, having sat atop the division for a mind-boggling 248 days, would’ve been unimaginably sickening.

This Sunday, though, he has a chance to right the wrongdoings from that fateful evening in spring and strike a poignant blow in what already looks set to be another thrillingly contested title-race.

Let’s face it, there has never been a “good” time to face Manchester City but if that statement was to ever make an ounce of sense then it is now. Pep Guardiola’s men have recently lost two games on the spin – bowing out of the Carabao Cup against Newcastle last Wednesday before falling to a shock defeat against Wolves on Saturday.

A 3-1 victory over RB Leipzig in the Champions League has reinstated a degree of normality, however there is no doubt that the previous 10 days or so will have fractured City’s confidence ahead of a game of such crucial early importance given how well both sides have started this intense Premier League campaign. Guardiola, a renowned over-thinker, will be ruining the fact that this clash against Arsenal has fallen when it has.

But there is no time to waste time thinking about previous rights and wrongs of performances when a game of this magnitude is now only a matter of days away. The winner on Sunday will go top of the table, the loser left with nothing but ground to make up and a dented ego. It sounds odd to say, but this game is in many ways already a six-pointer.

A draw would probably suit either team and keeps the title-race wide open heading into the upcoming international break, with Tottenham presented with a perfect opportunity to climb to the summit should they beat Luton on Saturday lunchtime. Arsenal, though, would perhaps welcome a point a little more given recent results against their north-west counterparts and the fact that star man Bukayo Saka could well miss the game through injury after limping off in the midweek defeat to Lens.

So, if you’ve got plans for Sunday afternoon, cancel them immediately. It doesn’t get much bigger than this one and you will not want to miss a single second of it.

Premier League Gameweek 8 – fixtures in full:

Saturday 7 October 2023

12:30 Luton v Spurs (TNT Sports)

15:00 Burnley v Chelsea

15:00 Everton v AFC Bournemouth

15:00 Fulham v Sheff Utd

15:00 Man Utd v Brentford

17:30 Crystal Palace v Nott’m Forest (Sky Sports)

Sunday 8 October 2023

14:00 Brighton v Liverpool (Sky Sports)

14:00 West Ham v Newcastle

14:00 Wolves v Aston Villa