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Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta (AFP Photo)
Arsenal’s Premier League title ambitions face the ultimate test as Manchester City look to five points clear at the top of the table.
The Manchester City and Arsenal clash is already being billed as a pivotal moment in the title race even though the Premier League season is only four rounds in.
The two teams have been battling it out for the past two seasons with Pep Guardiola’s City triumphant on both occasions as they stretched their run to an unprecedented four in a row.
Nothing in the opening salvos of the new campaign suggests it will be any different this time, although many are predicting that Arsenal can finally break City’s stranglehold and a positive result on Sunday would be a psychological boost.
Mikel Arteta’s men managed to stop City from scoring twice last season, but still could not deny the English champions a record fourth consecutive Premier League title.
For the past two seasons Arsenal have finished second to Pep Guardiola’s winning machine.
Many believe this is their season to end a 21-year wait to win the title since Arsene Wenger’s “Invincibles” romped to glory without losing a game.
City remain their biggest obstacle, although the path could be cleared should the holders be hit by a points deduction for 115 alleged breaches of Premier League rules by the end of the campaign.
Haaland has struck a record nine times in the first four matches of the new Premier League campaign.
The Norwegian’s stunning form has ensured City are the only side in the English top-flight yet to drop points.
But Arsenal are on their tails again — just two points behind — after proving their title credentials in battling away wins at Aston Villa and Tottenham.
Solid foundations
Arsenal’s challenge is built on rock solid defensive foundations.
Centre-back pairing William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are earning comparisons to legendary partnerships of the past, while goalkeeper David Raya has an extraordinary showreel of saves from the past month alone.
In five matches in all competitions, Arsenal have conceded just once — a goal that arrived when down to 10 men against Brighton.
When Arsenal shut out City in a 0-0 draw on the final day of March, there were muted celebrations from the visitors as they left the Etihad still on top of the table.
But City did not drop another point in the final nine games of the season to snatch the title by two points.
If Arsenal are to emerge victorious on a ground where they have not won since 2015, their centre-back combination will be to the fore.
Haaland did not even manage a single shot on target in the two league meetings when up against Saliba and Gabriel last season.
In 65 Premier League games with that duo together at the back, Arsenal have kept 30 clean sheets and conceded just 51 goals.
Yet, to gain that level of recognition, Arsenal need to add silverware to their impressive stats.
For all of the impressive progress over the past three seasons, they do not have a single trophy to show for it.
Ending City’s near two-year unbeaten run on home soil would strike a telling early blow that this time the title race could end differently.
