Manchester City suffered yet another desperately difficult evening on Tuesday as they threw away a three-goal lead to draw with Feyenoord in the Champions League.
City had been cruising against their Dutch opponents thanks to Erling Haaland's brace and Ilkay Gundogan's deflected strike. However, a combination of mistakes and hard work from Feyenoord saw Pep Guardiola's side concede three goals from the 74th minute onwards to draw the game.
The result leaves City's confidence at an all-time low while Arsenal are in buoyant mood thanks to a 5-1 hammering of Sporting in Lisbon. After the weekend's results, the Gunners sit just a point behind the current champions and nine behind leaders Liverpool.
However, a look at both Arsenal and City's fixtures could show opportunities for the Gunners to leapfrog the Manchester club and begin to push towards Liverpool. football.london has analysed what's to come.
Arsenal's next five fixtures
November 30 vs West Ham (A) at 5.30pm - Premier League
December 4 vs Manchester United (H) at 8.15pm - Premier League
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December 8 vs Fulham (A) at 2pm - Premier League
December 11 vs AS Monaco (H) at 8pm - Champions League
December 14 vs Everton (H) at 3pm - Premier League
Manchester City's next five fixtures
December 1 vs Liverpool (A) at 4pm - Premier League
December 4 vs Nottingham Forest (H) at 7.30pm - Premier League
December 7 vs Crystal Palace (A) at 3pm - Premier League
December 11 vs Juventus (A) at 8pm - Champions League
December 15 vs Manchester United (H) at 4.30pm - Premier League
Liverpool's next five fixtures
November 27 vs Real Madrid (H) at 8pm - Champions League
December 1 vs Manchester City (H) at 4pm - Premier League
December 4 vs Newcastle (A) at 7.30pm - Premier League
December 7 vs Everton (A) at 12.30pm - Premier League
December 10 vs Girona (A) at 5.45pm - Champions League
The verdict
No game is a given in the Premier League, as both clubs can attest to but looking at the run of next five fixtures, Arsenal will be confident of leapfrogging City starting this weekend. West Ham have been in indifferent form this season and their victory over Newcastle was impressive but the Gunners will be confident of picking up a result at what has been a happy hunting ground for them recently.
Meanwhile, City have to travel to Liverpool in a match which will only benefit Arsenal regardless of the scoreline. Manchester United is on the agenda for both clubs but Ruben Amorim's trip to the Emirates Stadium could come too early for him to have honed his tactics while you would imagine they will be much more comfortable in a 3-4-3 by the time they visit City in mid-December.
Trips to Crystal Palace and Juventus will not be welcomed by City if they are still out of form while their home clash against Nottingham Forest is perhaps not as easy as it appears on paper after Arsenal's victory last weekend. Mikel Arteta's side are riding the crest of a wave right now and at the moment it seems only a matter of time before they become Liverpool's main challenger for the title.
As for the Reds, a local derby with Everton and a trip to Newcastle are difficult tests while Sunday's clash with City, as mentioned, can only benefit Arsenal regardless of the scoreline.
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Arsenal Manager Mikel Arteta, Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Gabriel Jesus with the Arsenal Therapy Dog Win during the Arsenal Men's team group shoot at London Colney on September 18, 2023
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