Arsenal vs Manchester City: How to watch live, stream link, team news

On Sunday, the two front-runners for the Premier League championship face off against each other at the Emirates Stadium.

Buckle up, things are about to get crazy.

[ MORE: How to watch Premier League in USA ]

The Gunners remain unbeaten in the Premier League but have yet to fire on all cylinders and their UEFA Champions League defeat at Lens in midweek proved they’re still struggling to get the balance right, especially in midfield. Declan Rice has been excellent since he arrived but Arteta seems to have gone for a more attacking approach in central areas and it just isn’t working. Still, they sit one point behind Premier League leaders Manchester City this weekend and these two teams have been very evenly matched over the last 12 months or so. The epic Manchester City wins home and away against Arsenal earlier this year swung the title in their favor but for so long it looked like Arsenal would win the title. There is a great rivalry building between these two sets of players, while of course the managers know each other extremely well and everything is set for an epic clash in north London on Sunday.

How to watch Arsenal vs Manchester City live, stream link and start time

Kick off time: 11:30am ET (Sunday, Oct. 8)
TV: Peacock
Online: Watch via Peacock Premium

How many times have Arsenal beat Manchester City?

In short, not many in recent times. Arsenal have lost 12-straight Premier League games to Manchester City, being outscored 33-5 in that period. All-time, Arsenal lead the series 23-10-19 in terms of Premier League games. Manchester City won both games last season, which ultimately was the difference in them beating Arsenal to the Premier League title.

Bukayo Saka injury update

Saka came off in Arsenal’s defeat against Lens in the UEFA Champions League in midweek and has been nursing a knock for a while as he also hobbled off against Bournemouth last weekend.

However after being unclear initially about Saka, Mikel Arteta was a little more positive talking about this injury and here is the latest news on Saka’s availability for this huge game against Manchester City.

“He is in contention, we’ll see how he progresses from here to Sunday. Obviously he had to leave the pitch [against RC Lens], that’s never good news, but let’s see how he recovers,” Arteta said.

Arsenal vs Man City lineups

All eyes will be on whether or not Bukayo Saka can make it into the Arsenal starting lineup, or even on the bench. If he doesn’t, expect Leandro Trossard to start on the left and perhaps Gabriel Jesus will move to the right with Eddie Nketiah up top. Fabio Vieira is also another options.

Manchester City’s main lineup dilemma is in midfield with Rodri missing, so Pep Guardiola could put John Stones in there to give City more defensive balance. In attack, Erling Haaland and Julian Alvarez both have to start with Jack Grealish and Phil Foden pushing hard to join them in the lineup.

Focus on Arsenal

The Gunners are looking good but there’s a feeling that they’re slightly underperforming to start the season. The fact that notion is hanging in the air in north London and they’re just a point off the top of the table shows you how much progress they’ve made. With David Raya, Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber all arriving this summer, the squad is stronger but losing Timber to injury was a blow. Getting Thomas Partey back fit is a boost, while Arteta needs the duo of Eddie Nketiah and Gabriel Jesus to be more clinical when big chances arrive. Injury wise, Bukayo Saka is struggling with a muscle issue and came off early in their defeat at Lens. Gabriel Martinelli could come back from his thigh injury to play some part, while Timber remains out due to his long-term knee injury.

Focus on Manchester City

Pep Guardiola has been happy enough with how City have started the season as they’ve won both of their games in the Champions League and seven of eight in the Premier League. But recent defeats at Wolves in the league and Newcastle in the League Cup have thrown up a few doubts about this City squad. They usually bounce back with a big win, and performance, and they’ll have to do that without their most consistent duo over the last few seasons. Kevin de Bruyne remains out after injuring his hamstring, again, in the opening day win at Burnley, while Rodri’s silly red card led to a three-game suspension and he will serve the final game of that this weekend. That means Rico Lewis, Kalvin Phillips or Manuel Akanji could be tasked with replacing Rodri and if you have to make a selection now, it is probably going to be Akanji or Phillips. In attack, City have so many attacking weapons and both Haaland and Julian Alvarez have started the season in incredible goalscoring form with Phil Foden and Jack Grealish pushing to start.