All eyes are on the Etihad for Sunday's true definition of a blockbuster Premier League battle, as faltering leaders Arsenal and closest challengers Manchester City do battle in the 33rd gameweek of the 2025-26 campaign.
While the destiny of the crown may still be in the Gunners' hands, Mikel Arteta has overseen three consecutive domestic disasters in recent weeks; the EFL Cup final loss to Man City, the FA Cup exit to Southampton and last weekend's shock 2-1 defeat to Bournemouth on their own patch.
Arsenal at least reached the Champions League semi-finals in midweek by completing a 1-0 aggregate win over Sporting Lisbon, but not a single red and white soul should have taken confidence from a frustrating 0-0 second-leg draw.
Meanwhile, the Man City end-of-season juggernaut is rolling, and Pep Guardiola's men made it three wins on the spin in all competitions with last weekend's 3-0 crushing of Chelsea, leaving them six points behind Sunday's visitors with a game in hand.
Ahead of Sunday's crunch clash, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the head-to-head record and previous meetings between Man City and Arsenal.
Head-to-head record
Previous meetings: 215
Man City wins: 66
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 215 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.
However, there would be no late reprieve for the Gunners in the 2025-26 EFL Cup final, where a Nico O'Reilly brace deservedly propelled Man City to a 2-0 triumph and dashed Arsenal's quadruple dreams.
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
Mar 22, 2026: Arsenal 0-2 Man City (EFL Cup)
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)
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)