Man City vs Arsenal preview, team news, kick-off

Kevin De Bruyne misses out with injury, while new Arsenal signing Thomas Partey could be thrown straight into the team despite only taking part in two training sessions; watch free match highlights shortly after full-time on Sky Sports' digital platforms and YouTube channel

Tuesday 20 October 2020 17:53, UK

Team news and stats ahead of Man City vs Arsenal in the Premier League on Saturday (kick-off 5.30pm).

Team news

Man City boss Pep Guardiola revealed Kevin De Bruyne will miss this weekend's visit of Arsenal after picking up an injury while on international duty.

The City playmaker was withdrawn after 73 minutes in the Nations League defeat against England last Sunday and left the Belgium squad early with an unspecified knock. He joins Gabriel Jesus on the sidelines, whose muscle injury is keeping him out for an unspecified amount of time.

Sergio Aguero has been back in training this week and could feature. The Argentina international underwent knee surgery back in June after he suffered an injury against Burnley towards the end of last season.

Everyone else has returned fit from the international break, with Bernardo Silva, Raheem Sterling and Joao Cancelo fully recovered from their knocks.

New Arsenal signing Thomas Partey could be thrown straight into the team despite only taking part in two training sessions.

Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang pulled out of international duty with Gabon with a sprained ankle but has been training over the past week. Kieran Tierney will be allowed to play after confusion around whether he has to quarantine following a positive Covid test while away with Scotland.

Pablo Mari (ankle) and Gabriel Martinelli (knee) are both out but Calum Chambers (knee) and Shkodran Mustafi (hamstring) have returned to full training.

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How to follow

Man City vs Arsenal will be broadcast live on Sky Sports Premier League from 5pm on Saturday Night Football; kick-off at 5.30pm. Sky Sports customers can watch in-game clips in the live match blog on the Sky Sports website and app. Highlights will also be published on the Sky Sports digital platforms and the Sky Sports Football YouTube channel shortly after the final whistle.

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Watch the Premier League live on Sky Sports

At least 146 Premier League games will be shown live on Sky Sports in the 2020/21 season. The Premier League has further increased the number of televised games this season from 200 to 231, with over half of the extra fixtures set to be shown live on Sky Sports.

Overall, Sky Sports will be showing at least 146 Premier League matches live throughout the 2020/21 season, continuing to bring you all the latest twists, turns and shocks at the home of the Premier League.

There will also be two additional midweek programmes - one will be played across the weeks commencing January 11 and 18 and the second will be in the week commencing May 10. All of these games will be broadcast live.

You can also follow the action with our dedicated live blogs on the Sky Sports website and app, and watch free match highlights from every game shortly after full-time on our digital platforms and YouTube channel.

Opta stats

Manchester City are unbeaten in their last nine Premier League meetings with Arsenal (W7 D2), since a 2-1 loss in December 2015. They've scored at least twice in all nine of these games.
Arsenal have lost their last six Premier League meetings with Manchester City, shipping three goals in five of those six games. They last had a longer losing run against an opponent in league competition versus Ipswich between 1974-1977 (7).
This is the third of their four Premier League games this season that Manchester City are starting the day in the bottom half of the table - as many as in their previous 375 matches in the competition.
Manchester City have won just four points from their three league games this season, their lowest total at this stage since 2010-11. Meanwhile, only twice in their league history have the Citizens lost both of their opening two home games in a season - 1930-31 and 1953-54.
Manchester City are winless in their last two Premier League games, last going three without a win in the competition back in April 2017 (4). The third game in that run was a 2-2 draw with Arsenal.
Arsenal have won eight of their last 12 Premier League games (D1 L3), more than they had in their previous 28 in the competition (W7 D13 L8). Indeed, since their loss to Brighton in June, no side has picked up more Premier League points than the Gunners (25).
Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne has been involved in seven goals in his last eight Premier League starts against Arsenal (5 goals, 2 assists). The Belgian has scored more Premier League goals against the Gunners than he has versus any other side (5).
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored both goals in Arsenal's 2-0 win over Man City in the FA Cup semi-final last season. However, he's played more Premier League minutes without scoring against Man City than he has any other opponent (450), including missing a penalty in March 2018.