Arsenal latest: Man City title race warning issued as Mikel Arteta set for reunion

Arsenal are heading into a make-or-break month in their season, with no fewer than four trophies on the line for Mikel Arteta

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta faces a hectic fortnight ahead as the north London heavyweights reach a pivotal moment in their season. The challenge appears to have intensified following an important development ahead of the League Cup final.

Arteta, 43, is aiming to guide his team into the Champions League quarter-finals while maintaining their position at the summit of the Premier League. The Gunners are also two weeks away from their League Cup final encounter with Manchester City, with an FA Cup quarter-final scheduled for early April after narrowly defeating Mansfield in the fifth round.

It represents the sort of dilemmas every top-tier side aspires to have, though they will undoubtedly prove challenging to manage. Supporters and analysts have spent months offering their forecasts regarding how successful Arsenal's campaign will be, and the coming four weeks could decide how this season shakes out come May.

One Premier League rival appears convinced the upper hand rests with City based on what he's witnessed this term. football.london examines the latest developments at the Emirates Stadium as the Gunners prepare for Wednesday's trip to Bayer Leverkusen.

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Pep Guardiola cleared for cup final

Arsenal supporters could be forgiven for experiencing a moment of hope when Pep Guardiola picked up his sixth caution of the campaign during Saturday's 3-1 victory over Newcastle. Managers accumulate a three-match suspension for every three yellow cards collected in England, with the sixth typically triggering a two-match ban.

In ordinary circumstances, this would see Arteta's former City superior confined to the stands for both next weekend's league fixture against West Ham (March 14) and the League Cup final (March 22). Nevertheless, Guardiola will capitalise on a loophole to guarantee he can exert maximum influence at Wembley in a fortnight's time and ensure a reunion with former assistant Arteta on the sidelines.

FA regulations state that "play-off matches [semi-finals and finals] in the EFL and National League System, as well as finals of the Emirates FA Cup, EFL Cup, EFL Trophy are exempt from any automatic touchline ban for the accumulation of cautions by technical area occupants."

Guardiola was issued a sixth yellow card of the season following protests directed at fourth official Lewis Smith when he felt Kieran Trippier had committed a foul on Jeremy Doku. He'll remain available to face Real Madrid in their forthcoming last-16 tie in the Champions League.

Speaking following his caution at St James' Park on Saturday, Guardiola quipped: "I will tell you something - we have all the records in this country, all of them, despite everything. We have the record of the manager with the most yellow cards. I want all records and now I have it.

"Two-game ban now and I will go on holidays the next two games. There are things after 10 years I cannot understand. Review the action. Of course I'm going to defend Doku and all my teams."

Eddie Howe backs City as 'strongest he's faced'

Should Arteta harbour any uncertainty about whether he can overcome Guardiola on several fronts, Eddie Howe's recent comments won't have provided much reassurance. That's after the Newcastle manager declared City the most formidable side he's encountered this season.

Following Saturday's cup defeat to Guardiola's side, Howe endorsed City as the country's finest team. While it's unlikely to plant seeds of uncertainty within the Arsenal dressing room, it serves as another indication that City remain a formidable force in the title race as they build momentum at a crucial juncture of the season.

"I think that they [City] made changes to their team, but I think you see the strength in depth that they have and they possess," said the Magpies chief after Saturday's 3-1 FA Cup loss. "I think that was probably a step too far for us today against them when they're in that mood, I thought they were excellent and we fell away in the game.

"We seemed to lose our energy, but they do that to you because they keep the ball so well. They make you run, they make you chase, then you're tired and you make another technical mistake and you're chasing again.

"They've done that for years. That's why, for me, they've been the best team that we've continually faced, and today I thought they were in a really good place and we just fell out of energy."