Manchester City vs Arsenal

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Arsenal have been on the receiving end of great amounts of credit this year. A good deal of it may be completely justified, but after playing an uncreative Sunderland, an uninspired Stoke, a struggling Liverpool and a quite dismal Southampton, the praise may be a bit too much.
In the opening three matches, the Gunners did manage to keep clean sheets, but in the first two they were fairly unchallenged, and against Liverpool Steve Bould's new-look defense could easily have conceded a couple.
And then after basking in the glee following the 6-1 win over Southampton, you come to the shocking realization that you just beat Southampton, and that revelation slightly taints the feeling, despite the offensive firepower.
If they win on Sunday against Manchester City, however, that will be something to be extremely proud of. Maybe the Citizens aren't in the same dazzling form as last year, but they are nonetheless a top-quality team.
This will be the first real test for the Gunners, who find themselves in sixth, although they have a game in hand.
Due to Szczesny's injury, Vito Mannone will start in goal again for Arsenal against Manchester City, having had a solid run so far. The back four of Gibbs, Vermaelen, Mertesacker and Jenkinson will also face a fantastic attack, who have managed to win games for City, despite their shaky defense.
Arsenal fans are hoping\ Mario Balotelli won't be seeing any playing time over the weekend, because last Premier League meeting between these two, he was out of control, getting sent off at the end, though it could have happened much earlier in the match.
However, Carlos Tevez—who is, unfortunately for the Gunners, starting to find his form—will be looking to tear the back line apart, having scored three goals already. Sergio Aguero will play, but whether he will start is unclear.
I think the biggest test tomorrow will be for the midfield. Cazorla, Arteta and Diaby have all been brilliant thus far, and they will clash against a side that likes playing many players in the middle of the park.
Although Nasri is set to miss the match, City have a plethora of midfielders who could crowd the midfield. With the ever-impressive Yaya Toure, David Silva (who isn't at the top of his game), Javi Garcia, Scott Sinclair, Gareth Barry and Jack Rodwell, don't be surprised if Roberto Mancini's side has a good amount of possession throughout.
Arsene Wenger will be glad that Manchester City's defense hasn't looked great so far this season, having already conceded six goals in four matches. I think Giroud should start in order to challenge balls in the air against Vincent Kompany and cause chaos for the home team—things that he does quite well.
Podolski is a favorite to score as well, but the question is how le Professeur will start up top. Will he opt for Podolski, Giroud and Gervinho, or exclude the Frenchman as he did against Southampton and go with Podolski, Gervinho, Oxlade-Chamberlain? Or will he start Theo Walcott? Wait, who?
So tomorrow will be Arsenal's first checkpoint in the 2012/13 English Premier League race, and tens of thousands of fans singing "Blue Moon" will show the Gunners' true mettle.
Will they pass their first test, or will they turn out to be a team who flunks in this exciting season?

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Saturday sees Arsenal travel to the Etihad Stadium as they take on Manchester City in the headline game of the weekend. Arsenal are on a positive run, hammering Southampton 6-1 last week and winning their Champions League opener in Montpellier; while the hosts are level on points with the Gunners but suffered heartbreak in Madrid as they lost their clash with Real Madrid in the dying minutes.
Manchester City are in a relative slump of form, last week’s trip to Stoke only bore a draw after City’s forwards struggled to break through the Potters’ defence in the hostile environment of the Brittania Stadium.
Mancini’s men then faced a very tough test as they travelled to the Bernabeu in midweek only to lose 3-2 to a flurry of late goals. They will look to recover and put a few things right against Arsenal as they try to get their Premier League title defence campaign off the ground.
Arsenal on the other hand are on a great run of results, their new signings are really starting to gel and attractive football is being played once again. The Gunners went a long way to answering the question of who will replace RVP in their 6-1 demolition of Southampton which showed some uncharacteristic opportunism and efficiency.
Their trip to Montpellier proved to be far from an easy ride, but after falling behind to a 9^th minute penalty Arsenal showed spirit to get ahead by half time and endured a barrage of Montpellier attacks to put 3 points on the board in the Champions League group stage. Arsenal will be hoping to get another 3 points against City as they face the first serious test of their title-winning credentials.
The game will be a great indicator of how far Arsenal have progressed as title challengers and a true test of Manchester City’s resolve as they try to prove their dip in form to be a minor blip. A win for City will fill them with confidence going into their next games and could be the kick-start for them in what has been a staggered start. 3 points for Arsenal would mean that they’d have beaten the Champions at their own ground and would surely give them all the belief needed that they can win the league.

Manchester City Team News:
Sergio Aguero is poised to make his first appearance since the opening match after overcoming a knee problem while Roberto Mancini has said there are no disciplinary issues concerning forward Mario Balotelli.
City midfielder Samir Nasri looks set to miss the clash against his former club through a hamstring injury.
Joleon Lescott will hope to reclaim his place from Matija Nastasic, but right-back Micah Richards (ankle) remains sidelined. 

Arsenal Team News:
Keeper Wojciech Szczesny will again be sidelined by the ankle problem which forced him out of the midweek Champions League win in Montpellier, Vito Mannone will again deputise between the sticks.
Jack Wilshere (ankle) and Emmanuel Frimpong (knee) both made long awaited returns to training this week but are still some way from first-team contention.
Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) and Bacary Sagna (broken leg) are still out but are expected to feature within two weeks.