The huge advantage Arsenal have other Manchester City nobody is talking about

Arsenal welcome Manchester City to Emirates Stadium on Sunday in what promises to be one of the biggest games of the season.

The Gunners have already faced Manchester United, Leeds United, Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League this season, with Mikel Arteta's side claiming nine points out of the 12 available. The only loss came at Anfield, although it took a sublime Dominik Szoboszlai strike from distance to be the difference.

It means Arteta's men are second in the league at the minute, with Tottenham and Bournemouth below the north Londoners on goal difference. Man City, meanwhile, are down in eighth as they have won two and lost two of their opening four games.

Defeats to Tottenham and Brighton mean Pep Guardiola's side have started the season in inconsistent form, although they did beat Manchester United comfortably in their last league match. Both sides go into the clash after playing Champions League football in midweek, with the Gunners playing on Tuesday and Man City playing on Thursday.

While the Gunners played Athletic Club in Bilbao, they were back in London early on Wednesday, with the players even taking part in the official squad photocall for the season later that day. Normal training resumed on Thursday with all eyes on City at the weekend.

In contrast, City played Napoli at Etihad Stadium on Thursday night and those involved will have a rest day on Friday. Training will then resume on Saturday before players make the trip to the capital ahead of the game in north London on Sunday.

Put simply, Arsenal's players have a two-day advantage on the Man City squad due to their game being played 48 hours earlier. It could make all the difference come Sunday, especially with the game expected to be played at a high intensity.

The last match between the pair ended in a 5-1 victory for Arsenal, with Martin Odegaard, Thomas Partey, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Kai Havertz and Ethan Nwaneri netting in the win in February. If Man City's players struggle to recover in time from Thursday's clash with Napoli, a similar result may well just be on the cards.

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