Matchday three of the Premier League will get off to a bang as Manchester City welcome Arsenal to the Etihad Stadium.

After coming unstuck against Tottenham on opening weekend, City bounced back emphatically with a 5-0 thumping of Norwich, reminding everyone of just how good they really are.

As for Arsenal, they’re still looking for both their first point and their first goal of the campaign. Mikel Arteta is under real pressure to turn things around and a meeting with his former employers could well be the last thing he wanted to deal with right now.

Here’s 90min’s preview of the game.

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When is kick off? Saturday 28 August, 12:30 (BST)

Where is it being played? Etihad Stadium, Manchester

What TV channel is it on? BT Sport 1 (UK), NBC Sports (US)

Who’s the referee? Martin Atkinson

Who’s on VAR duty? Darren England

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Pep Guardiola will definitely be without both Phil Foden (foot) and Kevin De Bruyne (ankle), but there are hopes that both could be back after the international break if all goes according to plan.

Left-back Benjamin Mendy will also miss the game after City confirmed he has been suspended while under investigation from the police.

The only other headache for Guardiola is a positive one. Both Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling came off the bench to score against Norwich and will likely be restored to the starting lineup alongside assist hero Gabriel Jesus, meaning Jack Grealish may have to be dropped back into midfield.

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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette have both recovered from COVID-19 and are in line to feature, but Ben White, Willian and Alex Runarsson remain in isolation and will have to miss this one.

An ankle injury will keep Thomas Partey sidelined, and although centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes has returned to training following a knee injury, he is not expected to make it back for this one either.

There could, however, be a second ‚debut‘ for Martin Odegaard, who managed an hour in the cup victory over West Brom in midweek and is in line for his first Premier League start since returning to the club.

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Man City: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Laporte, Cancelo; Rodri, Gundogan, Grealish; Mahrez, Jesus, Sterling

Arsenal: Leno; Cedric, Holding, Mari, Tierney; Xhaka, Lokonga; Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe; Aubameyang

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City find themselves on a three-game winning streak against Arsenal, having done the double over the Gunners last season and added a victory in the Carabao Cup quarter-final for good measure.

Arsenal did get the last laugh in the 2019/10 FA Cup semi-final, when an Aubameyang double had life under Arteta looking rosy, but that was their first win over City since the same stage of the 2016/17 season.

In the Premier League, Arsenal’s last victory over City came in a 2-1 victory back in December 2015. The 11 league games that followed have yielded nine losses and two draws, with an overall scoreline of 28-8.

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City have made a real habit of thumping Arsenal in recent years, and even though they haven’t got an elite striker on their books just yet, they’ll still be confident of joining in the beatdown of Arsenal.

Arteta may have more joy in attack thanks to the return of Lacazette and Aubameyang, but with White and Gabriel still out, the Gunners are stuck with the same pieces of the defence that crumbled against both Brentford and Chelsea. City are the last team they’ll want to be facing right now.

The hosts are the overwhelming favourites for this one, and not only will they be confident of winning, but they’ll fancy their chances of keeping Arsenal’s search for their first goal of the season going for a little while longer.

Prediction: Man City 3-0 Arsenal

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