Arsenal guaranteed to be without six players vs Man City as squad for title clash 'confirmed'

Mikel Arteta has a number of injury issues at Arsenal but still has a strong squad to choose from for the clash at Manchester City in the Premier League

Just six points currently separate Arsenal and Manchester City in the Premier League, with Mikel Arteta describing Sunday's clash at Etihad Stadium as a "big opportunity".

"It's certainly the most important one because it's the next one," the Spaniard told reporters on Friday. "We have earned the right to be in this position, to be challenging and with the possibility to win and the opportunity to win on Sunday, arguably against the best team and the best manager that this league has ever seen.

"That's a huge privilege, and we can't wait to play the game, and we're going to prepare the game to win it, that's for sure, and we see that as a big opportunity for us."

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The north Londoners go into the clash with a number of injury concerns, however. Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka have been ruled out of contention by the former Man City assistant coach, while Noni Madueke faces a late fitness test after coming off with a knock against Sporting CP in midweek.

Arteta said on Friday when asked about Madueke: "Well, we have another training session tomorrow so he didn't look that bad after the game and he was quite positive. He's a player that pushes through pain so I'm hopeful that he can be available but we have to wait and see if he's able to join tomorrow."

There are also question marks surrounding the fitness of Martin Odegaard, Jurrien Timber and Riccardo Calafiori. On the trio, Arteta said: "Yeah, we will try again. Some players are quite close but the turnaround is short so we will try tomorrow to push everybody and if they are in good condition they will be part of us and if not they won't. They haven't been there in the last few weeks unfortunately."

With Merino and Saka definitely out, and Madueke, Odegaard, Timber and Calafiori all huge doubts for the clash against Pep Guardiola's side, it means Arsenal could be without as many as six senior players for the game in Manchester. So, when looking at the official Arsenal website, the Gunners have 18 senior players available for selection for the game vs Man City. As per Premier League rules, a club is allowed to name a squad of 20 players for a Premier League match.

With third choice goalkeeper Tommy Setford one of those fit 18 players, it's likely Arteta will call-up three academy players to plug the gaps in the squad. Max Dowman will almost definitely be in the squad, as will promising defender Marli Salmon.

Harrison Dudziak, 20, was on the bench against Sporting, while another option is Andre Harriman-Annous, who has been involved in two Premier League squads this season and even started against Brighton in the Carabao Cup back in October.

Possible Arsenal squad for Man City: Raya, Kepa; White, Gabriel, Saliba, Salmon, Lewis-Skelly, Mosquera, Hincapie; Zubimendi, Rice, Norgaard, Eze; Martinelli, Madueke, Gyokeres, Trossard, Jesus, Dowman, Harriman-Annous

Senior players unavailable for Man City: Merino (knee injury), Saka (Achilles injury), Odegaard (knee injury - doubt), Madueke (knee injury - doubt), Timber (groin issue/ankle injury), Calafiori (knee injury)