The first major trophy of the 2025-26 English football season is up for grabs on Sunday afternoon, when Premier League leaders Arsenal and closest challengers Manchester City lock horns in the final of the EFL Cup at Wembley Stadium.
The mouth-watering showpiece pits together the League Cup aficionados against a side who have not won the competition since the 1992-93 season - before any members of Mikel Arteta's current squad had even been born.
However, the Gunners - who overcame Port Vale, Brighton & Hove Albion, Crystal Palace and Chelsea to earn their ticket to the home of English football - come into the game as the favourites, having gone unbeaten in 14 straight matches in all tournaments while winning six of their last seven.
In contrast, Man City have only prevailed in one of their last five contests under Pep Guardiola, although the Catalan coach is already a four-time winner of the EFL Cup and could become the first manager to conquer the tournament on five occasions.
Ahead of Sunday's unmissable contest, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between Arsenal and Man City.
Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 214
Man City wins: 65
Draws: 48
Arsenal wins: 101
The inaugural battle between Arsenal - then prefixed with Woolwich - and Manchester City, formerly known as Ardwick, in 1893 marked the first of 214 showdowns between the Citizens and the Gunners, who lead the way with 101 wins against the English champions.
Under the watchful eye of Mikel Arteta, the Gunners clinched their most recent victory in astonishing circumstances in February 2025, pummelling the Premier League champions 5-1 at the Emirates on a day where Myles Lewis-Skelly and Ethan Nwaneri both made the net bulge.
The Spaniard has made a habit of getting one over former master Pep Guardiola recently, as Arsenal also trumped City twice in 2023, once in the Community Shield and once in the top flight on home turf.
Goalmouth action was sparse in Easter Sunday's Etihad battle in 2024, though, where Arsenal were happy to settle for a goalless stalemate, ending their streak of embarrassment after embarrassment on Man City's territory in the process.
The Gunners had previously lost seven Premier League ties in a row against the Citizens on Manchester turf, but they would be left to lament not going gung-ho for all of the spoils, losing the 2023-24 top-flight crown to Man City by a mere two points.
City's aforementioned eight-game winning sequence took them up to 65 triumphs over Arsenal in their history, and even though the Citizens remain unbreakable on their own territory, they needed a late John Stones goal to save their bacon in an absorbing 2-2 draw in September 2024.
Almost exactly a year later, it was Arsenal's turn to steal a point in the dying embers of the match, as Gabriel Martinelli rescued his side ina 1-1 stalemate for the teams' 48th draw.
Across their last four top-flight showdowns at the Etihad, Man City have made the net bulge 11 times while conceding just three themselves - to three defenders in Rob Holding, Gabriel Magalhaes and Riccardo Calafiori - and it has been nine years since Arsenal emerged victorious on the Sky Blues' soil.
On that occasion, the silky Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud propelled Arsene Wenger's charges to a two-goal victory, but they were just seconds away from a hoodoo-ending win with 10 men at the start of the 2024-25 season, only for Stones to score City's latest Premier League equaliser on record.
Last 20 meetings
Sep 21, 2025: Arsenal 1-1 Man City (Premier League)
Feb 02, 2025: Arsenal 5-1 Man City (Premier League)
Sep 22, 2024: Man City 2-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
Mar 31, 2024: Man City 0-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Oct 08, 2023: Arsenal 1-0 Man City (Premier League)
Aug 06, 2023: Arsenal 1-1 Man City (Community Shield Final)
Apr 26, 2023: Man City 4-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
Feb 15, 2023: Arsenal 1-3 Man City (Premier League)
Jan 27, 2023: Man City 1-0 Arsenal (FA Cup Fourth Round)
Jan 01, 2022: Arsenal 1-2 Man City (Premier League)
Aug 28, 2021: Man City 5-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Feb 21, 2021: Arsenal 0-1 Man City (Premier League)
Dec 22, 2020: Arsenal 1-4 Man City (EFL Cup Quarter-Finals)
Oct 17, 2020: Man City 1-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Jul 18, 2020: Arsenal 2-0 Man City (FA Cup Semi-Finals)
Jun 17, 2020: Man City 3-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Dec 15, 2019: Arsenal 0-3 Man City (Premier League)
Feb 03, 2019: Man City 3-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
Aug 12, 2018: Arsenal 0-2 Man City (Premier League)
Mar 01, 2018: Arsenal 0-3 Man City (Premier League)
Last 10 Premier League meetings
Sep 21, 2025: Arsenal 1-1 Man City (Premier League)
Feb 02, 2025: Arsenal 5-1 Man City (Premier League)
Sep 22, 2024: Man City 2-2 Arsenal (Premier League)
Mar 31, 2024: Man City 0-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Oct 08, 2023: Arsenal 1-0 Man City (Premier League)
Apr 26, 2023: Man City 4-1 Arsenal (Premier League)
Feb 15, 2023: Arsenal 1-3 Man City (Premier League)
Jan 01, 2022: Arsenal 1-2 Man City (Premier League)
Aug 28, 2021: Man City 5-0 Arsenal (Premier League)
Feb 21, 2021: Arsenal 0-1 Man City (Premier League)