Arsenal are preparing for a dress rehearsal of their upcoming title battle with Manchester City as they face the English champions in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday night. The Gunners have been intertwined in a race to the top of the Premier League with the Citizens so far this season.
However, the switch to a different competition will give them a glimpse of how far they have really come in recent campaigns. The north London outfit have lost all five of their last outings against their Manchester rivals in all competitions, but it's an opportunity to change the narrative once again.
"Big match," Mikel Arteta advertised it as during his pre-match press conference earlier this week. "Big test for us against in my opinion the best team in the world. Looking forward to it because it’s going to tell us a lot about where we are."
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The FA Cup is a competition the Spaniard has had some success in, winning his only trophy with the Gunners in the competition back in 2020. However, it remains to be seen how seriously it will be taken, given questions over the depth of the squad in their hunt for an arguably bigger prize in the Premier League title.
football.london's Arsenal writers had their own guess as to what team could come out at the Etihad Stadium, but it remains to be seen if it will be full strength or rotation for some of the squad players that are patiently waiting for their chance. Oleksandr Zinchenko may well have hinted at the decision though.
That's because the Ukraine international, who has been a regular this season since joining from City, has posted a pre-match hype graphic on his Instagram story. It could indicate that a place in the starting side is already his, however that isn't guaranteed to be the case and there could still be changes in the side come kick off.
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