EXCL: Man City vs Arsenal preview, Saka injury update, new deal for Gunners wonderkid, Ramsdale exit likely, & more

This week's column on all things Arsenal FC...

Man City vs Arsenal preview and injury update

It just doesn’t get much bigger than Sunday’s game. You can’t really call it a title decider, given there is another team involved in the title race. But the side who wins on Sunday will get a huge bolt of momentum going into the run-in.

For Arsenal it’s massive. They may be top at the moment, but they are still considered the outsiders by most and that is largely down to the difficulty of some of the away trips they still have to make between now and the end of the season. But if they can go and win at the Etihad, then it will certainly show that they now have what it takes to go the distance, unlike last season. And they will absolutely back themselves to go and get a result. This is what they have been playing for all season.

I think it’s going to be really tight, but for the first time in a long time, I think Arsenal can win at City. They have the quality, they have the players, and most importantly now, they have the belief. If you want to win the title, you have to stand up in the big moments and win games like this. Arsenal have already shown they can beat City this season and they believe they can do it again.

The midfield is going to be key and it will be really interesting to see how Mikel Arteta sets his team up. Ideally, Thomas Partey would be fully fit. If he was, I have no doubt he would be in the XI. But he’s looked rusty since returning from his long injury lay-off and in a game as intense as Sunday’s, you have to have players who are fully up to speed.