Arsenal vs Manchester City

Mikel Arteta told ESPN on Friday the reasons Mesut Ozil hasn’t been playing and it seems the Spanish coach is getting a little clearer in his message.

Pep Guardiola has said he is planning to use City’s semi-final at Wembley against Arsenal to gauge how ready his side are to play Real Madrid in the Champions League.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will start against Manchester City at Wembley on Saturday in search of his first FA Cup goal for Arsenal this season and Mikel Arteta has backed him to handle the pressure even though he has never scored against City before.

Arsenal face Manchester City in the FA Cup semi-final on Saturday, looking to finally put an end to their terrible recent record against their opponents.

Arsenal could play in the Community Shield at the start of next season, even if they lose their semi-final next weekend against Manchester City as the FA are determined to put on the showpiece.

Freddie Ljungberg took Mesut Ozil off against Manchester City and replaced him with 19-year-old Emile Smith Rowe because he wanted more energy in the side.

Bernd Leno has called on his Arsenal teammates to spend the next week looking at their own mentality, convinced it is not the coach that is causing the problems.

Alexandre Lacazette, Mesut Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Lucas Torreira seem unlikely to be Arsenal players this time next year and the decisions made around the Manchester City game seemed to clarify that and a number of others who could go.

When you read about an Arsenal centreback saying the team are ready to ‘explode,’ you should probably check what he means.

Arsenal host Manchester City on Sunday, a difficult end to an otherwise vaguely encouraging week for Freddie Ljungberg’s side.