Arsenal face Manchester City at the Etihad on Sunday, after sneaking back into the top four for the first time in almost two months.

With Chelsea’s heavy defeat to Bournemouth and Arsenal’s victory over Cardiff City in midweek, Unai Emery’s side returned to the Champions League qualification places. The upcoming game against Pep Guardiola’s side means it’s going to be a real challenge to end the week there though.

Emery doesn’t have a midweek game to think about, so there’s no need for any rotation. However, he’s likely to bring a few players back into the starting eleven after Tuesday’s performance. Plus, he has new loan signing Denis Suarez in the mix.

Let’s have a look at our predicted lineup for the clash.

Goalkeeper and Defence

LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 31: Carl Jenkinson of Arsenal controls the ball during the Carabao Cup Fourth Round match between Arsenal and Blackpool at Emirates Stadium on October 31, 2018, in London, England. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

Emery continues to chop and change between a back three and a back four recently, but with all the injuries at the moment you’d expect a back four on this occasion.

Stephan Lichtsteiner was disappointing against Cardiff, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles is a doubt for this one after picking up a knee injury. With Hector Bellerin also out long-term, Carl Jenkinson is surprisingly looking like the most likely option for this match. The 26-year-old made his Premier League return in midweek and did well.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Rob Holding are out injured, and Laurent Koscielny is still a strong doubt despite his return to full training. The Frenchman’s injury against Manchester United wasn’t nearly as bad as initially feared, but he’s still likely to miss this game.

That leaves Shkodran Mustafi and Nacho Monreal as the centre-back pairing. Konstantinos Mavropanos is also available, but if Emery didn’t want to risk the young defender’s comeback against Cardiff, he’s unlikely to do so against Manchester City.

Bernd Leno will start in goal over Petr Cech as usual.

Click ‘Next’ for Midfield, Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI

Midfield

LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 01: Granit Xhaka of Arsenal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Fulham FC at Emirates Stadium on January 1, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Mohamed Elneny took Granit Xhaka’s place in the midfield against Cardiff, but didn’t perform very well and ended up coming off at half-time. It was the first Premier League game Xhaka hadn’t started all season, excluding the one he missed with a yellow card suspension. He’ll probably return to the team on this occasion.

Alongside Xhaka, Lucas Torreira and Matteo Guendouzi should both keep their places. Those two had good games against Cardiff, and the midfield trio with Xhaka did well in the last big game against Chelsea.

It remains to be seen where Denis Suarez will fit into the team. He could very well replace one of the above three in midfield, or he may be utilised as a wide option further forward. Either way, it seems unlikely he’ll be thrown into the starting eleven against the Premier League champions a couple of days after signing.

Click ‘Next’ for Forwards and the full Predicted Starting XI

Forwards

LONDON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 01: Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal waves after the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Fulham FC at Emirates Stadium on January 1, 2019, in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette continue to be hard to drop, with both scoring on Tuesday. Aubameyang also set up Lacazette’s goal against Cardiff, whilst Lacazette set up Aubameyang’s goal in the previous match against Manchester United. They’re forming a great partnership, which is one of few consistent positives this season.

Behind them, Mesut Özil started on Tuesday, but Aaron Ramsey is likely to take the German’s place for this one. In every big game recently, the Welshman has been Emery’s preferred option. Despite a good showing against Cardiff, Özil probably didn’t do enough to change that.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan is being assessed ahead of this game, but probably won’t make it back in time to start. Again, Denis Suarez could feature in a more forward role, but he’ll likely do so from the bench. Alex Iwobi had a decent cameo against Cardiff, so if Emery does decide to switch to a 4-2-3-1, he might come in for one of the midfielders.

Click ‘Next’ for the full Predicted Starting XI

Predicted Starting XI

BuildLineup.com

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Manchester City vs Arsenal Betting Tips

Alexandre Lacazette has three goals in four league games, and he scored in his only other appearance in this fixture last season. Bet on Lacazette to score anytime with BetUK at 12/5.

This fixture isn’t often a high-scoring one. The last game with five or more goals was back in 2013. Bet on under 4.5 goals with BetUK at 20/49.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is Arsenal’s top scorer, with six goals in his last eight games. Bet on Aubameyang to score anytime with BetUK at 6/4.

Prediction: Manchester City 1-1 Arsenal (10/1 with BetUK).

Unai Emery to make 3 changes: Predicted Arsenal lineup vs Manchester City