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As it happenedended

Manchester City vs Arsenal live: Raheem Sterling and Leroy Sane seal comeback victory to dent Gunners' hopes

Follow the latest from the Premier League clash between City and Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium

Joe Miles
Friday 16 December 2016 17:17 GMT
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Leroy Sane watches the ball into the back of the net after beating Petr Cech
Leroy Sane watches the ball into the back of the net after beating Petr Cech (Getty)

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Manchester City can dent Arsenal’s Premier League title hopes and move above the Gunners in the process when they face-off at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon, with Arsene Wenger’s side looking to close the gap to runaway leaders Chelsea to six points. Follow the latest here.

  • Manchester City vs Arsenal kicks off at 16:00 GMT
  • City without suspended Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho
  • Ilkay Gundogan ruled out for the rest of the season with knee ligament damage
  • Teams:
  • Manchester City: Bravo; Zabaleta, Otamendi, Kolarov, Clichy; Fernando; Sané, Touré, Silva, Sterling; De Bruyne
  • Subs: Caballero, Sagna, Stones, Nolito, Navas, Iheanacho, A Garcia
  • Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Coquelin, Xhaka; Walcott, Ozil, Iwobi; Sanchez.
  • Subs: Ospina, Gibbs, Holding, Elneny, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Lucas, Giroud.

Follow the live action below...

Please allow a moment for the blog to load...

Arsenal cannot afford to slip up when they travel to Manchester City on Sunday or else risk dropping nine points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea, while City also find themselves in a perilous position after a run of poor form.

With a Gunners a solitary point ahead of fourth-placed City, the match will see two sides having their title credentials tested go head to head with the loser in danger of falling out of the title picture.

City go into the match on the back foot, with Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho suspended and Ilkay Gundogan ruled out for the rest of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in Wednesday’s victory over Watford.

At least City enter the match off the back of a win though. Arsenal suffered a surprising defeat at Everton on Tuesday in which they were soundly beaten by a team more determined to grab the three points. They could have Aaron Ramsey back for the match, but Arsene Wenger confirmed it comes too soon for Danny Welbeck while Shkodran Mustafi, Per Mertesacker and Santi Cazorla remain long-term absentees.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Premier League encounter.

It’s a big game for...

Nolito: The Spain international replaced youngster Kelechi Iheanacho for the win over Watford and is likely to continue as the lead striker for the visit of Arsenal. He has big shoes to fill, as the absent Aguero has scored four goals against Arsenal during his Premier League career.

Best stat...

3.2: This clash tends to produce goals, with 32 goals scored between the two sides over their last 10 meetings. City’s biggest victory remains the 6-3 demolition on December 2013, while Arsenal have not managed to better the 3-0 Community Shield victory in 2014 as their best league triumph came in the 2-0 win in January 2015.

Who to look out for...

Alexis Sanchez: The Arsenal striker is running red-hot this season and the ongoing contract negotiations with the club do not appear to be a distraction. Sanchez has 14 goals this season for his club along with two more for his country, and the Chilean now has as many league goals as Diego Costa this season along with the same number of assists in fewer minutes.

Likely teams...

Manchester City: Bravo; Zabaleta, Otamendi, Kolarov, Clichy; Toure, Fernando, Sterling, Silva De Bruyne; Nolito.

Arsenal: Cech; Bellerin, Gabriel, Koscielny, Monreal; Ghaka, Coquelin, Walcott, Özil, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Sanchez.

Past three meetings...

Manchester City 2 (Aguero, De Bruyne) Arsenal (Giroud, Sanchez), Premier League, May 2016.

Arsenal 2 (Walcott, Giroud) Manchester City 1 (Toure), Premier League, December 2015.

Manchester City 0 Arsenal 2 (Cazorla, Giroud), Premier League, January 2015.

Ilkay Gundogan will miss the rest of the season for City
Ilkay Gundogan will miss the rest of the season for City (PA)

Form...

Manchester City: DWLDLW

Arsenal: WLWWWL

Odds...

Manchester City to win: 23/20

Arsenal to win: 5/2

Draw: 13/5

(Odds provided by 888sport)

Where can you watch it...

Manchester City vs Arsenal is live on Sky Sports 1 from 15:30.

Highlights on BBC One on Monday at 22:45.

You can also follow it with The Independent’s live blog live on Sunday afternoon.

Jack de Menezes18 December 2016 17:08

53 MINS

Monreal leads an Arsenal attack, that leads to Bellerin pulling the trigger from the edge of the box. It's a sliced attempt and it goes horribly wide. 

Joe Miles18 December 2016 17:10

56 MINS

Fernando skips past a number of Arsenal shirts in terrific style to begin a City move, but Arsenal are sitting deep and marking tightly. De Bruyne finds a gap, but his delivery is low and cleared by Monreal. 

Joe Miles18 December 2016 17:14

59 MINS

Toure picks up the ball on the edge of the box and he makes himself space, but instead of pulling the trigger he lays off Sagna. With his striking ability - he should be going for goal from there. Aside from the equaliser, Cech has been somewhat untested.

Joe Miles18 December 2016 17:16

62 MINS

Sane comes close to doubling his tally, with De Bruyne delivering a perfect through ball but Cech closes down the angle well and denies Sane from close range. Corner kick to City. 

The Gunners really have gone off the boil here. They are so deep and compact in their shape that they are struggling to find a midfielder outlet to begin an attack. 

Joe Miles18 December 2016 17:18

65 MINS

Substitution: Iwobi is replaced by Oxlade-Chamberlain

Joe Miles18 December 2016 17:21

68 MINS

Arsenal have their first real attack of the second half, but Coquelin is unable to reach the through ball. Since the equaliser Arsenal have lacked any energy or urgency about their play. Sanchez is yet to see the ball this half.

Joe Miles18 December 2016 17:25

72 MINS

GOAL

MANCHESTER CITY 2 - 1 ARSENAL

Sterling has given his side the advantage with a tremendous left-footed strike. De Bruyne picks up the ball in his own half and switches play with a remarkable ball to find the goalscorer. Sterling picks up the ball and beats Monreal then slots it past Cech at the near post. 

Joe Miles18 December 2016 17:29

75 MINS

Substitution: Coquelin has been replaced by Giroud

Joe Miles18 December 2016 17:32

2-1! Danny Rose!

Jack Pitt-Brooke18 December 2016 17:32

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