Arsenal travel to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, 19 April, for a game many see as the decider of the 2025–26 Premier League season. Mikel Arteta is expected to go with a 4-2-3-1 formation: David Raya starts in goal, with Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel, and Myles Lewis-Skelly across the back four.
Martín Zubimendi and Declan Rice will likely sit in the double pivot, supporting a front unit of Max Dowman, Kai Havertz, and Gabriel Martinelli behind Viktor Gyökeres. Arsenal head into this game six points clear at the top of the table, though their 2-1 loss to Bournemouth and City’s 2-0 win at Chelsea have blown the title race wide open again. The stakes are massive as Manchester City prepare to host their rivals.
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Arteta confirmed before Friday’s training that Bukayo Saka is out of the trip to Manchester, while Noni Madueke is still a major doubt. So, Ben White stays at right-back, a role he’s held since Jurrien Timber went down, and the teenage Max Dowman is the likely pick to fill the right-sided attacking slot ahead of Madueke.
With Mikel Merino, Timber, Saka, and Ødegaard all sidelined recently, Arteta has lost his preferred creative engine on the right side. Even so, the core of the team is solid: Saliba and Gabriel are among the best centre-back duos in Europe, and the Rice-Zubimendi pairing gives Arsenal a real foothold in the middle of the park.
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Gyökeres has found the net in five straight games, and his stats for the year are incredible for a player in his debut Premier League season. He has 12 league goals so far in 2025–26, carrying the load for the Arsenal attack through a second half of the season plagued by injuries. Havertz, playing as the number ten, will be the link to Gyökeres, who is the best striker in the league right now at pulling defenders out of position and holding up play.
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Martinelli will be tasked with relentless pressing from the left, something he usually does well against the big teams, while Lewis-Skelly offers pace and width on the opposite side. Arsenal and Manchester City have faced off 196 times in the top flight, with Arsenal winning 92 of those, and Arteta’s side will need all of that history on their side when they walk out at a hostile Etihad against a City team determined to close the gap at the top.
Arsenal (4-2-3-1): David Raya – Ben White, William Saliba, Gabriel, Myles Lewis-Skelly – Martín Zubimendi, Declan Rice – Max Dowman, Kai Havertz, Gabriel Martinelli – Viktor Gyökeres.
