At a Glance:
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola confirmed whether Nico O’Reilly will be fit to face Arsenal.
The Manchester City youngster scored a brace against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final.
O’Reilly was taken off against Chelsea after feeling his hamstring.
Ahead of the box-office showdown between Manchester City and Arsenal, several fans and pundits alike would be wondering whether Nico O’Reilly is fit to start Sunday’s game.
O’Reilly has been a revelation for Pep Guardiola’s men this season and crucially, the last time these two sides met in the Carabao Cup final, the 21-year-old scored a brace in City’s 2-0 win.
Arsenal will be wary of the Englishman, especially in front of goal as he has scored key goals for the Sky Blues this campaign against Chelsea and Real Madrid in other big games as well.
William Saliba will have to be at his brilliant best in particular as the youngster often enters the box by darting from the left-hand side as a nominal attacking midfielder when Manchester City have the ball.
Man City boss Pep Guardiola says Nico O’Reilly is fit to face Arsenal
However, O’Reilly has been terrific defensively as well this campaign, managing to fare impressively against wingers such as Bryan Mbeumo and Mohamed Salah.
Bukayo Saka could feature against Manchester City and if he manages to play a part in his side’s upcoming contest, the 24-year-old’s experience and quality could trouble the City wonderkid.
Speaking ahead of the contest, Pep Guardiola confirmed O’Reilly is ready to face Arsenal.
Guardiola said via Hayters TV: “Ruben [Dias] is not ready and Nico is fine.”
How Arsenal can expose Nico O’Reilly defensively
It is easier said than done for any side to expose O’Reilly defensively.
The Carabao Cup winner reads the game astutely, stays touch-tight to wingers while also possessing the speed and physicality to win duels at will.
🤩📊 Breaking down @ManCity starboy Nico O’Reilly’s 2025/26 #CarabaoCup campaign in numbers!
Read more 👉 https://t.co/OG7sUXcVdS#EFL | #CarabaoCupFinal pic.twitter.com/YybDF7mHDW
— Carabao Cup (@Carabao_Cup) March 23, 2026
However, one way in which Arsenal could potentially make life difficult for him is to overload their right-hand side.
If Cristhian Mosquera starts against Manchester City at right-back after his impressive outing against Sporting CP, he could perhaps bomb forward, either making overlapping or underlapping runs to case problems for O’Reilly.
Whether Mikel Arteta ends up starting either one of Saka, Noni Madueke or Max Dowman on the right-wing, each player will be far more effective if supported by their right-back against one of the league’s most in-form left-backs.
While Jeremy Doku is known to track back relentlessly and help O’Reilly out, Manchester City’s defence hass looked shaky at times this campaign and Mikel Arteta will have to tweak his tactical setup to surprise Pep Guardiola.