Just three weeks on from a hard-fought 2-2 draw at the Emirates, Arsenal and Manchester City are set to do battle once again.
This time at Wembley, with a place in the FA Cup final up for grabs, both will be equally bullish about their chances of moving one step closer towards securing silverware this term.
After a topsy-turvy start to life in England, Pep Guardiola’s side have only lost on three occasions since the turn of the year. Arsenal have disappointed considerably since the start of 2017, being defeated by less-fancied sides in remarkable fashion along the way. Naturally, confidence isn’t high despite a narrow away win over Middlesbrough on Monday evening.
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It’s unlikely that Wenger will want to change too much within the side, especially given the step-up in quality that they’ll be against this weekend.
City pose a completely different threat to Middlesbrough and although Monday’s hosts didn’t prevail, it could have easily went either way for large parts of the game
A significant test to see if Arsenal’s new system works is against the league’s best sides and City definitely are one of those.
It would be a surprise to see the likes of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Rob Holding dropped after impressive performances last time out, whilst Theo Walcott could start – but Olivier Giroud’s aerial presence and positioning would most likely be preferred to Walcott’s direct running, especially if Alexis is up-top too.
Possible XI (3-5-2): Cech; Gabriel, Koscielny, Holding; Ox, Monreal, Ramsey, Xhaka, Özil; Alexis, Giroud.