Preview: Manchester City v. Arsenal

I'm using this every time Arsenal plays City.

Pic via Guardian; caption mine, naturally.

City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester

Sunday, October 24

16:00 BST, 11:00 a.m. EDT

• Referee: Mark Clattenburg
• This Match, Last Year: Manchester City 4 - 2 Arsenal
• All-Time in All Competitions: 91 Arsenal wins, 45 Manchester City wins, 39 draws
• Arsenal's League Form: W-W-D-L-L-W
• Manchester City's League Form: L-D-W-W-W-W

Predicted Line-Up

guesses in red

Fabianski

Sagna - Djourou - Squillaci - Clichy

Song - Diaby

Walcott - Fabregas - Nasri

Chamakh

Subs from: Szczesny, Eboue, Gibbs, Denilson, Rosicky, Arshavin, Bendtner
Suspended: Wilshere (first of three, violent conduct)
Out: Koscielny (back), Almunia (elbow), Vermaelen (Achilles), Van Persie (ankle), Ramsey (broken leg)


Arsenal News and Notes

• Bacary Sagna will return from a thigh injury; while Arsene Wenger doesn't usually like to start players coming off injury, Arsenal are a bit light at the back, so it would not be a surprise to see the blond braids starting at right back.
• Laurent Koscielny is probably still out with his mysterious back injury, which he picked up in training. Arsene Wenger puts him at 20%.
• Manuel Almunia is still out with his elbow injury and probably won't return until Fabianski's next blunder. Then again, arm injuries need to be fully healed for a goalkeeper to return.
• Thomas Vermaelen seems like he'll never play again given his rate of recovery. Van Persie and Ramsey will be back next month.
• January 17th's 2-0 win at Bolton: The last time Arsenal won while keeping a clean sheet on the road AND the last time Arsenal won a fixture that was moved to Sunday for British television.
• Their 0-0 draw at Aston Villa two weeks later was the last time Arsenal didn't concede in any match on the road. They have conceded goals in 15 consecutive away fixtures across all competitions. 
• In terms of matches moved to Sunday, Arsenal have lost five and drawn one of out the six since the Bolton away win. The 4-0 win against Fulham doesn't count here since all matches were played simultaneously and the match wasn't moved to be televised (i.e. a big game.)

Manchester City News and Notes

• Former Gunner Kolo Toure has been out of the last two matches with a persistent hamstring injury.
• Jo picked up an ankle injury in training, but came off the bench anyway today...
• City won its Europa League group match against Lech Poznan today 3-1. A former Arsenal player who shall remain nameless had a hat trick.
• Mario Balotelli (knee) and Aleksandar Kolarov (ankle) might be fit to play, both huge surprises.
• City did not lose a league fixture at home until March of last year, but their loss to Spurs in their final home game of the season denied them Champions League qualification.
• Blackburn Rovers are the only league team to take a point from Eastlands this year. Juventus took a point there in the Europa League.
• City have lost only two of 14 competitive fixtures this year. Then again, Arsenal have only lost two of 12. The difference is that one of City's losses was in the Carling Cup and the other came only through a late penalty at Sunderland.
• Joe Hart has only conceded two goals at home in league play this year, in four matches.

Match Facts

• Arsenal have lost three straight trips to Eastlands; twice in the league and once in the Carling Cup last year. Then again, City played their entire line-up against Arsenal's reserves in that one.
• The Gunners last win at Eastlands was 3-1 on February 2, 2008. The aforementioned player who shall remain nameless had a brace for the correct team in that one.
• This fixture last year was a 4-2 Arsenal loss in early September. The reverse fixture was a dreadful scoreless draw in late April.

The Referee

• The referee is Mark Clattenburg.
• Clattenburg was the referee for this fixture last year. How did Adebayor not get sent off for both running the length of the pitch like an attention AND kicking van Persie in the face?
• Also, he officiated both North London derbies last year. I remember one of those going well.
• Hey, remember that 36 match streak when Arsenal was only awarded one penalty because Eduardo destroyed the sanctity of football by diving, or something? Well, Mark Clattenburg was the only referee to award Arsenal a penalty during that streak. Cesc Fabregas took the shot and it was saved. Arsenal beat Stoke 2-0 at the Emirates anyway.
• Why do I have so much to say about this guy? He also worked Arsenal's FA Cup over West Ham.
• For City, he worked a 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers earlier this year.
• Last year, in addition to the win over Arsenal, Clattenburg refereed a 3-3 draw with Bolton, a 1-1 draw with Stoke, and a 3-1 win over Aston Villa for City.

Around the League

• Saturday: Tottenham Hotspur v. Everton; White Hart Lane, London
• Saturday: Birmingham City v. Blackpool; St. Andrew's, Birmingham
• Saturday: Chelsea v. Wolverhampton Wanderers; Stamford Bridge, London
• Saturday: Sunderland v. Aston Villa; Stadium of Light, Sunderland
• Saturday: West Bromwich Albion v. Fulham; The Hawthorns, West Bromwich
• Saturday: Wigan Athletic v. Bolton Wanderers; DW Stadium, Wigan
• Saturday: West Ham United v. Newcastle United; Boleyn Ground, London
• Sunday: Stoke City v. Manchester United; Britannia Stadium, Stoke-on-Trent
• Sunday: Liverpool v. Blackburn Rovers; Anfield, Liverpool