Man City's most important player vs Arsenal is clear as Mikel Arteta admission speaks volumes

Manchester City take on Arsenal in the Premier League this weekend in a seismic showdown that could decide the destination of the title.

It was only a couple of Premier League matches ago that the title momentum had swung in Arsenal's favour.

It was a tale of two missed crosses. Arsenal looked like they were going to drop points at home to Everton only for sub Max Dowman to swing over a cross that Jordan Pickford came for and missed, resulting in the ball bouncing to Viktor Gyokeres to tap in a 90th-minute goal. 16-year-old Dowman then added gloss to the scoreline with an injury-time second.

A couple of hours later, at the London Stadium, Manchester City were in charge and in front thanks to Bernardo Silva's fortunate opener when Gianluigi Donnarumma misjudged a West Ham corner and Konstantinos Mavropanos headed home.

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In a season where set-pieces have become all-consuming, it was perhaps fitting that a corner had shifted the narrative, even if it wasn't the Gunners scoring from it.

Yet things suddenly look very different. City and Donnarumma were commanding on Sunday, the Italian more than playing his part in a memorable victory. Having sat out the cup wins over Arsenal and Liverpool, the 27-year-old was immediately restored to the XI for the Premier League clash with Chelsea and will keep his place on Sunday.

He'll know what's coming. No team has scored more than Arsenal's 19 from set pieces this season and the tactic will again come under the microscope. The Gunners analysts will no doubt have watched Donnarumma's misjudgement at West Ham with raised eyebrows as they seek to further utilise what has been a significant Arsenal strength this season.

City have shipped nine set-piece goals this term, a tally that is only actually bettered by six teams. But given City have only conceded 28 times in the Premier League - a total comfortably lower than every other side apart from Arsenal - the percentage of goals City have conceded from set pieces is 32%. That is a more concerning figure and one that is lower than just two other teams (Chelsea and Crystal Palace). In contrast, Wolves have conceded just 12 per cent of goals from set pieces, a top-flight high.

As ever with stats, you can read into them what you want and fit them around a narrative. What isn't up for debate is how adept Arsenal have been from set pieces this season and how much of a threat they will pose to City on Sunday.

The Blues can take heart from their meeting at the Emirates earlier this season, when Donnarumma was relatively dominant in his own box. He made four punches and five clearances during a somewhat surprising rearguard action from City, who were minutes away from claiming a victory before Gabriel Martinelli's last-gasp leveller.

Donnarumma's ability to nullify Arsenal's set-piece threat was not lost on Mikel Arteta, who said after the game: “He’s so dominant in the box, every ball that is in and around the six-yard box, his timing, the way he executes the box is super efficient. It’s very difficult and today, he made some very important contributions not to lose the game.”

The Italian will need to be at his best again this weekend with Arsenal set to unleash a barrage of set pieces. The Gunners have become the masters this season and even if City boss Pep Guardiola doesn't particularly like the trend, he knows his side have to adapt to survive.

“Football is about how, when the opponents create problems for you, you have to find a solution,” he said last month. "You can sit and complain, but you have to adapt."

City also kept Arsenal at bay in the Carabao Cup final, albeit with James Trafford in goal on that occasion. He'll have a watching brief again this weekend and like many in a packed-out Etihad, will have a keen eye on the set-piece battle.