Man Cityvs.Arsenal

Pep Guardiola reunites with former student Mikel Arteta on the back of last season's epic top-flight title battle, where the Gunners pushed their Mancunian counterparts all the way before falling excruciatingly short on the final day.

After losing the crown to City by two points last year, Arsenal coincidentally already have an identical gap to make up to the champions this time around, having won three and drawn one of their opening four contests to reside in the familiar runners-up spot.

Meanwhile, the reigning champions are the only Premier League side still boasting a 100% domestic record in 2024-25, although they were stunted in a goalless Champions League draw with Inter Milan in midweek, as were Arsenal against Atalanta BC.

While some of the league's finest talents will strut their stuff at the Etihad, two influential figures could be missing through injury, and here, Sports Mole selects a combined XI from both squads, using only players expected to be available for the match.

Just when David Raya appeared to make the best save he would conjure up all season against Aston Villa, the Arsenal number one produced an even more breathtaking stop - or pair of stops - in the draw with Atalanta, which Arteta unsurprisingly hailed as one of the best he has ever seen in his career. The Spaniard's 93.3% save rate is also the best in the league so far this term, but for the simple fact that he has been a cornerstone of City's all-conquering team for so long, Ederson just edges this one.

The same thought process applies to our right-back selection, as Ben White has been Mr. Consistent ever since pulling on the Arsenal jersey, but his display against Tottenham was not his finest. Kyle Walker, meanwhile, is only just getting back into his rhythm after the Euros, but the City captain remains one of the most difficult full-backs to beat one-on-one and pips his Arsenal colleague to selection here.

However, not a single City centre-back - yes, not even Ruben Dias - earned our vote over Arsenal's impenetrable rocks William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, who have a very strong case to call themselves the best defensive pairing in the world at the moment. The French former continues to amaze with his astounding composure and well-timed tackles, while Gabriel - always the bridesmaid and finally the bride, at least in this instance - has excelled at both ends of the field, notching his 15th Premier League goal in the North London derby. Dias and Manuel Akanji are of course worth a mention, but the partnership that has conceded just once in five games this season had to get the thumbs-up.

The 'left back in the changing rooms' anecdote applies to Sunday's blockbuster game, which all of Nathan Ake, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu are set to miss through injury. Jurrien Timber has taken to that position like a duck to water since his ACL recovery, but the Dutchman loses out to Josko Gvardiol, who enjoyed that memorable end-of-season surge on the goalscoring front in 2023-24 and already ranks in the top 10 for passes into the final third this term.

While Arsenal skipper Martin Odegaard is guaranteed to miss out due to his ankle injury, Guardiola has not ruled out the possibility of Kevin De Bruyne (groin) making an appearance, but that is considered unlikely. As a result, the strings of our combined XI will be pulled by Bernardo Silva, who already sits on two assists from four Premier League games this season and will have an even more critical role to play on Sunday if De Bruyne is indeed absent.

Arsenal new boy Mikel Merino would have been a candidate for the engine room too, but for his unfortunate shoulder fracture. However, the Spaniard's teammate Declan Rice is back from his controversial one-game suspension to make his physical presence felt in the left eight role and was a straightforward pick. Speaking of simple selections, City's omnipotent fulcrum Rodri - one of the favourites for this year's Ballon d'Or - is set for a belated first Premier League start of the campaign on Sunday, where he will endeavour to make headlines on the pitch rather than off it after his comments on possible player strike action amid the increasingly congested fixture list.

As dazzling as Savinho has been in his first few weeks at Man City, the Brazilian trickster was never threatening Bukayo Saka's place on the right; the 23-year-old has set up a goal in all of his top-flight appearances so far this season and could now become just the second Arsenal player to provide an assist in each of the Gunners' first five games of a Premier League season after Thierry Henry in 2004-05. On the opposite flank, Phil Foden - like Rodri - is also in line for Premier League start number one of 2024-25, and there was no leaving out the current PFA Players' Player of the Year, even if Leandro Trossard has been more productive so far this season.

Save the best for last and all that - breaking records is Erling Haaland's bread and butter, and the two-time Golden Boot winner has another in his sights on Sunday. Already boasting an unprecedented nine goals in four top-flight games at the start of the season, the Scandinavian sensation could become the first man to reach double figures in the first five matches of a new Premier League season. Few strikers pass the Saliba + Gabriel test with flying colours - Haaland did not in 2023-24 - but the Norwegian scored twice and set up two goals against Arsenal in 2022-23 and is operating at the peak of his Premier League powers.