Many eyes, certainly from an Arsenal perspective, were on this afternoon's Premier League encounter between Manchester City and Aston Villa.
Now, cast your minds back to a week ago. The Gunners had been beaten by Everton roughly 24 hours prior but that slip-up at Goodison Park didn't prove too costly as City's poor record in N17 in recent years continued as they lost 1-0 against Tottenham Hotspur.
So after receiving a helping hand from an unlikely source in their north London rivals, could Arsenal turn to a familiar face in former head coach Unai Emery to ensure the defending Premier League champions didn't take full advantage of their 1-1 draw at home to Brentford yesterday afternoon?
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Well, not quite. It took the hosts less than five minutes to break the deadlock as Rodri headed home from a corner before goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez left the visitors with a huge mountain to climb at half-time. Despite a goal from Ollie Watkins and Jhon Duran rattling the crossbar it turned out to be a routine win for Pep Guardiola's side.
In truth, after one look at the confirmed Man City line-up, it was always going to be a tough ask for the Villa boss. Even with Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and Julian Alvarez dropping to the bench, there were returns for Kevin De Bruyne, Ruben Dias, Aymeric Laporte and Gundogan.
This result leaves Man City just three points behind Arsenal in the Premier League table - albeit having played a game more - and because of their superior goal difference will take over top spot with victory at the Emirates Stadium in what would be a huge statement of intent.
Looking ahead to Wednesday night's game and with regard to Man City team news, after missing the last four games across all competitions, Phil Foden was available for selection again and he came off the bench in the second half to get some minutes under his belt.
With the England international back in contention ahead of Man City's trip to the Emirates Stadium, it would appear that Guardiola will have a near full-strength first-team squad for the huge Premier League title contenders showdown. Although, Erling Haaland could be doubtful after being replaced at half-time.
The one confirmed absentee will be John Stones after the Spaniard revealed recently that the central defender will be out of action for "three weeks, one month, more or less" as a result of sustaining a hamstring injury in the FA Cup fourth-round tie between the two sides last month.
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