Preview: Arsenal v. Manchester City

I've told you before, I'm using this for every City game until he's gone.
Even though I doubt he'll play tomorrow...

Pic via Guardian. I wish the caption was too.

Emirates Stadium, London

Wednesday, January 5

7:45 p.m. GMT, 2:45 p.m. EST

• Referee: Mike Jones
• This Match, Last Year: Arsenal 0 - 0 Manchester City
• Reverse Fixture: Manchester City 0 - 3 Arsenal
• All-Time in All Competitions: 92 Arsenal wins, 45 Manchester City wins, 39 draws
• Arsenal's Recent Form: W-W-L-W-D-W
• Manchester City's Recent Form: W-W-L-W-W-W

Predicted Line-Up

guesses in red

Fabianski

Sagna - Koscielny - Djourou - Clichy

Song - Wilshere

Walcott - Fabregas - Nasri

van Persie

Subs from: Szczesny, Squillaci, Eboue, Denilson, Rosicky, Arshavin, Chamakh

Out: Diaby (calf), Gibbs (ankle), Almunia (ankle), Vermaelen (Achilles)

Arsenal News and Notes

• No reason to change the predicted side from the XI that starting against Chelsea last Monday and Birmingham on Saturday; there are no fresh injuries to the team.
• Kieran Gibbs might return to training today; his earliest shot at a return would be Saturday in the FA Cup against Leeds.
• Manuel Almunia: pretty much free to leave.
• Does anybody know why Marouane Chamakh wasn't on the bench on Saturday? I haven't heard a thing.
• Aaron Ramsey has returned from his loan spell at Nottingham Forest. He completed 90 minutes yesterday for the first time since his injury. Forest beat Ipswich Town 1-0.
• Arsenal are unbeaten in their last three matches. Their last unbeaten run of four came at the end of October.
• Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 21 league matches in which Johan Djourou has played and have won 14 straight of those. His last appearance in a league loss, however, was to Manchester City.

Manchester City News and Notes

• Attacking threats David Silva and Mario Balotelli will both miss the match with knee injuries. The former might be out for two weeks. The latter won't get the chance to learn who Jack Wilshere is.
• Emmanuel Adebayor, possibly short for this match with a heel injury, got into a training ground scuffle with fellow former Gunner Kolo Toure. It was Patrick Vieira who broke it up. Isn't that hilarious? You can't make that up.
• City have agreed to a transfer fee for Edin Dzeko from Wolfsburg. All of that paperwork won't go through before this one, though. I also believe they are close to buying the entire planet Earth as well.
• City have won five of their last six matches; only United are on better form in the league, which I honestly hope isn't true after today, though it makes me feel dirty to root for Stoke.

Match Facts

• It might be hard to use as a barometer, thanks to Dedryck Boyata's 5th minute red card, but Arsenal controlled the reverse fixture against 10-man City, winning 3-0 at Eastlands. Samir Nasri had the opener and Cesc Fabregas missed a penalty before half time, then Alex Song and Nicklas Bendtner closed the scoring in the second.
  
• This match last year was a dreadfully uninteresting 0-0 draw. The best part was when Patrick Vieira was subbed off for Emmanuel Adebayor and the chorus of praise turned instantly to boos as they passed each other.
• Manchester City has not actually won at Arsenal since a 3-2 win on October 4, 1975. They have drawn seven matches in North London since. Then again, City's a much different team now.

The Referee

• The referee is Chester-based Mike Jones.
• Jones has taken charge of two Arsenal wins at the Emirates this year: the 6-0 win over Blackpool and the 1-0 win over West Ham.
• He has taken charge of only one Manchester City match, a 0-0 draw with Birmingham at Eastlands in November.
• In his 19 matches this season (15 Premier League, 2 League Cup, 2 Championship,) he has shown 69 yellow cards and 2 red cards, including one to Ian Evatt of Blackpool for a last man foul on Marouane Chamakh at the Emirates.

Around the League

• Today: Blackpool v. Birmingham City; Bloomfield Road, Blackpool
• Today: Fulham v. West Bromwich Albion; Craven Cottage, London
• Today: Manchester United v. Stoke City; Old Trafford, Manchester
• Wednesday: Aston Villa v. Sunderland; Villa Park, Birmingham
• Wednesday: Newcastle United v. West Ham United; St. James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne
• Wednesday: Wolverhampton Wanderers v. Chelsea; Molineux, Wolverhampton
• Wednesday: Blackburn Rovers v. Liverpool; Ewood Park, Blackburn
• Wednesday: Bolton Wanderers v. Wigan Athletic; Reebok Stadium, Bolton
• Wednesday: Everton v. Tottenham Hotspur; Goodison Park, Liverpool