Man City 7-4 Arsenal: Guardiola’s men dominate combined XI including no NLD hero Gabriel

Big game, this one. Manchester City host Arsenal in the Premier League with the Gunners chasing their first win at the Etihad since the Arsene Wenger era. Here is our combined XI of the two sides.

GK: Ederson (Man City)

David Raya’s form at the minute is exceptional, typified by his wonderful double save against Atalanta, but it’s important to avoid being reactionary. Ederson is still the ultimate ball-playing goalkeeper and while Raya is far from a pretender, he is not quite on the same level as the City No. 1.

RB: Benjamin White (Arsenal)

Rico Lewis has the potential to surpass White – if he even wants to as a right-back – but like with Raya and Ederson, is not quite there yet. He is rarely tested defensively in Pep Guardiola’s system but should be if he starts on Sunday.

White has been incredibly consistent since joining Arsenal for £50million in 2021, starting off as a centre-back before establishing himself as one of the best right-backs in the Premier League in Mikel Arteta’s robust defensive structure.

Kyle Walker was obviously in the conversation here but picking White was a pretty easy decision.

CB: William Saliba (Arsenal)

There are not very many superior centre-backs in world football than William Saliba. He has been outstanding over the last two years and the centre-back partnership he has with Gabriel Magalhaes – who scored the winner against Tottenham last weekend – is ridiculously strong. Picking between the two for a combined XI is always tricky and it usually depends on which side of the bed I have woken up on.

CB: Ruben Dias (Man City)

It was tempting to pick both Arsenal defenders as they are the best centre-back pairing in England but it would be quite unfair not to include Ruben Dias.

The Portuguese is a world-class defender and has world-class consistency. In this City team including Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland, he is an unsung hero.

LB: Josko Gvardiol (Man City)

The left-back position was not an easy one. If Nathan Ake wasn’t ruled out, it might have been him. It was even tempting to shift Manuel Akanji over. And Jurrien Timber has been excellent for Arsenal at the start of this season.

Gvardiol is our man, though. After a slow start to life in Manchester, the Croatian shone in the second half of 2023/24 to help the Citizens win another Premier League title.

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DM: Rodri (Man City)

The best in his position in world football.

CM: Kevin De Bruyne (Man City)

It is unclear if De Bruyne will be fit enough to feature at the Etihad on Sunday and the fact there is a chance means he has to get in this team. He is arguably the best midfielder in Premier League history.

CM: Declan Rice (Arsenal)

This is the only position we are genuinely very unsure about, and we are prepared for criticism. Snubbing Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva is extremely harsh and if you think either deserve in over Declan Rice, that is completely understandable.

We have opted for the Arsenal man. He is one of the main reasons the Gunners are so strong out of possession and has lived up to his huge £100m transfer fee, which takes some doing. He is back in Premier League action this week after his hotly-debated red card against Brighton before the international break.

RW: Bukayo Saka (Arsenal)

Saka seems a little knackered already, which is a worry for Arteta. The England star has played a silly amount of football in his short career and we pray that his body does not give up on him.

On a more positive note, he is a wonderful footballer and a lovely lad. It’s impossible to snub him.

LW: Phil Foden (Man City)

Foden is moved out of position to ensure Saka gets in our combined XI. Moving players out of position is frowned upon but Foden doesn’t really have a set position and has played on the left plenty of times, so we have hardly gone Garth Crooks, fellas.

He might not start for City on Sunday having only just returned to action but he will definitely have a part to play in a huge encounter between the two favourites for the title.

ST: Erling Haaland (Man City)

Nine goals in four league matches this season is a rather pathetic return, you silly Nordic robot.

The battle between Haaland, Saliba and Gabriel will be the most interesting one of the day. The Arsenal defenders have dealt very well with the City goal machine in recent encounters, shutting him and Guardiola’s whole team out in both Premier League matches last season.

In 2022/23, Haaland scored at the Emirates when Saliba and Gabriel both started and again in the reverse fixture when Rob Holding started instead of an injured Saliba.

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