The title race is finely poised heading into the next week of Premier League action, with the trophy still in both teams' hands ahead of the final portion of the season. Arsenal currently lead the way, sitting four points clear at the top of the table, but with Manchester City on their tails.
The Cityzens have one game in hand - which will become two after the conclusion of Arsenal's clash with Southampton - and should they win, they could close the gap once again. There's then the head-to-head that's still to come between the two teams in the middle of next week.
It's being advertised as a potential title-decider at the Etihad Stadium that could have huge implications on the campaign as a whole. The Gunners could be without a few key players as Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny are already confirmed to be missing for the rest of the season, while William Saliba remains a doubt with a back injury.
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Their rivals are doing rather better in that regard, despite competing across three different competitions in the final few weeks. The only concern for Guardiola at the moment is with defender Nathan Ake, who had a hamstring concern in the Champions League quarter-final second leg against Bayern Munich.
The Dutch left-back was confirmed to be missing City's tie with Sheffield United in the semi-final of the FA Cup this weekend too. "He's not ready for tomorrow but I don't know how the damage is," Guardiola said. "They made the final tests this morning to know exactly how he is."
It remains to be seen if Ake will recover in time, with Aymeric Laporte, Rico Lewis and Sergio Gomez the current deputies to stand in for him. However, perhaps the bigger concern for the Spanish manager will be the fitness levels of his players and the performances on the pitch.
"We are exhausted," said Guardiola after the Bayern Munich victory. "I don't know how we recover to play against Sheffield United [in the FA Cup semi-final]. Now is a tough moment for the game on Saturday."
It could have a huge impact on the clash next week as well as the rest of the season as a whole, with the Gunners fully focused on winning the Premier League title.
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