This is as generously as Haaland will be priced for two shots in a Premier League game this season. It’s probably a fair pricing based on the fact that Arsenal are the best defensive side in the league and have done a good job on Haaland before, but the Norwegian striker should be motivated by his relentless early season form.

Haaland has scored five goals across his four Premier League appearances this season. He’s had 19 shots across these games (5.03 per 90) which is a shot volume that even a side as good at the back as Arsenal will struggle to contain. 

Haaland scored in this fixture last season as Manchester City were on the end of a 5-1 thrashing, one of their biggest defeats in the entirety of Pep Guardiola’s tenure. He also scored against Arsenal in the 2-2 draw between the sides at the Etihad, a game which saw him have six shots.

A rivalry had developed between these two sides over the last few seasons as they battled for the title. Arsenal received 2+ cards in both head to head meetings between the sides last season and also received a red card in the 2-2 draw at the Etihad.

There should be plenty of emotion in this game as well with Arsenal looking to build on their strong start. They’ve already had to make trips to Anfield and Old Trafford this season so a positive result here would represent a really strong start to the season for Arteta.

Arsenal have received seven cards across their four Premier League matches this season. They received 2+ cards in both of their big matches this term against Manchester United and Liverpool. 

They didn’t cover this line in their games against Forest or Leeds but that is to be expected with how one sided those games were. Arsenal also received two cards in their midweek Champions League game against Athletic Club.

Arsenal have won 22 corners across their four Premier League matches this season (5.5 per game). They’ve had 8 or more corners in each of their last two Premier League games against Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

Corners and set pieces more widely are still a massive part of Arsenal’s game. The Gunners have scored five of their nine goals in the Premier League this season from set pieces so we can expect them to utilise this avenue to goal again here.

Arsenal racked up five corners in this fixture last season and will be encouraged by City’s recent away performance against Brighton in which Guardiola’s side conceded three corners and looked far too open when possession changed hands. Arsenal won 251 corners across their 38 Premier League games last season (6.60 per game).

Arsenal have started this season really strongly with the main standout aspect of their performances being how difficult it is to score against them. 

Only Manchester United have managed to register an xG in excess of 1.0 against the Gunners so far with the only goal that Arteta’s side have conceded coming in the form of a wonder strike from Szoboszlai.

This would suggest that you have to do something special to score against this Arsenal side. Manchester City certainly are capable of producing something like that but Arsenal’s performances against City in recent seasons have gradually improved.

This culminated in their 5-1 victory against Manchester City at the Emirates last season which is a result that will give them confidence that they can record another positive result here. Manchester City still face issues defensively which Arsenal can exploit, especially in moments where the game is stretched. 

Arsenal only lost two of their 19 home games in the Premier League last season.

Foden has rediscovered some form over the last few games with a goal against Manchester United followed up by an assist against Napoli in the Champions League. Foden is a player that is more than capable of reaching double digits for goals and assists just as he did in the 23/24 season when he was crowned player of the year.

Foden and Haaland are Manchester City’s biggest goal threats. If you take either of these players out of the side, it becomes clear that Manchester City don’t have a lot of players that can score goals regularly. This is why Foden’s drop off in form last season was so costly for City, it left them totally reliant on Haaland for goals.

Foden can ride the wave of his current form here to register a goal contribution. Chances will be at a premium for City seeing as Arsenal tend to control games at home but Foden is the type of player who can unlock Arsenal’s stubborn backline.

It won’t be lost on Rodri that the ACL injury he suffered in the early parts of last season was against Arsenal so there may be a small element of revenge on the mind of the Spaniard. 

Rodri collected eight yellow cards and one red card in his last full season in the Premier League, back in the 23/24 campaign.

Arsenal have drawn a card from their opponents in each of their four Premier League games this season. They have added players that can test Rodri when it comes to the Spaniard committing fouls.

Eberechi Eze stands out as a player that could cause Rodri problems. He lines up on the left for Arsenal but comes inside when he gets the ball. Eze won 51 fouls across his 34 Premier League appearances last season (1.77 per 90).

The referee for this game is Stuart Atwell who has been busy in the early parts of the season, handing out 5.67 cards per game across his three appointments in the Premier League.

Raya and Alisson are quite clearly the best two goalkeepers in the Premier League. 

Donnarumma may climb up to join the duo but at the moment there is a massive gulf in class between the Liverpool and Arsenal keepers and the rest of the keepers in the Premier League.

Raya has routinely pulled out worldly saves for Arsenal and has made 11 saves to keep his three clean sheets this season (2.75 per 90). What is really notable about Raya’s early performances is that he’s maintained a save percentage of 91.7% across the opening few games which will make it difficult for City to force an effort past him.

Raya was forced into making three saves in this fixture last season and was called into action on nine occasions when the sides met at the Etihad.