Arsenal travel to Manchester City on Sunday as they look to bounce back from their disappointing midweek defeat to Everton.
The Gunners had been unbeaten in the league since their loss on the opening day, but Tuesday saw them slip to a 2-1 defeat to the Toffees.
City got back to their winning ways after back-to-back defeats against Chelsea and Leicester City with a 2-0 win over Watford, but they could find themselves 10 points off the pace by the time they kick off against the Gunners.
Read on for a preview of the match, but first, below are the viewing details and the latest team news.
Date: Sunday, Dec. 18
Time: 4 p.m. GMT/11 a.m. ET
TV: Sky Sports 1 (UK), NBCSN (USA)
Live Stream: Sky Go (UK), NBC Sports Live (USA)
Team News
According to the Evening Standard's James Benge, City have been rocked by the news that Ilkay Gundogan is set for several months on the sidelines after injuring his knee ligaments on Wednesday.
Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho will continue to serve their bans after being sent off against Chelsea.
Per Goal's Chris Wheatley, Shkodran Mustafi is out with a hamstring injury, while Aaron Ramsey is a doubt because of a similar issue and Mathieu Debuchy is unavailable.
Predicted Manchester City lineup: Claudio Bravo; Pablo Zabaleta, Nicolas Otamendi, Aleksandar Kolarov, Gael Clichy; Fernando, Yaya Toure, Raheem Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva; Nolito
Predicted Arsenal lineup: Petr Cech; Hector Bellerin, Gabriel Paulista, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal; Granit Xhaka, Francis Coquelin, Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil; Alexis Sanchez
Preview
City and Arsenal have produced some memorable fixtures in recent years, as the Sky Blues noted on their official Twitter feed:
In December last year, the Gunners came away 2-1 winners, albeit at the Emirates Stadium rather than the Etihad.
Arsenal were going strong, and after passing tests such as thrashing Chelsea and coming from behind to beat Stoke City, they looked as though they might have developed the kind of backbone they need to maintain a title challenge throughout the season.
They're far from out of the race after the defeat to Everton—even though they themselves could be nine points behind first place when they kick off—but their response to the setback could be telling.
ESPN's Mark Ogden believed their fragility was on show once again at Goodison Park:
Indeed, manager Arsene Wenger admitted his side struggled with the Toffees' physicality, per Goal's Chris Wheatley:
That should undoubtedly be a concern for the Frenchman, but fortunately for Arsenal, the Citizens aren't an especially aggressive or robust side.
City's defeats to Chelsea and Leicester were characterised by a lack of intensity, work rate and physicality from Pep Guardiola's side, and a similar performance against Arsenal will likely prove costly.
Per Stuart Brennan of the Manchester Evening News, the Sky Blues were able to improve on that against the Hornets on Wednesday:
However, doing that against a lacklustre and inconsistent Watford side at home is far easier than against Arsenal.
Coming away with three points will be even harder without Aguero's predatory finishing or Gundogan's expert playmaking from deep, and Arsenal should be eyeing three points here.
This is the kind of game the Gunners have often slipped up in in recent years, though, and with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva to call on, City still have plenty of quality in their ranks. Either side will be capable of winning on the day.