Arsenal host Manchester City on Sky Sports on Sunday in a fixture that has served up plenty of entertainment over recent years. Both sides are challenging for a top-four spot in the Premier League this season, with the Gunners sixth in the table and City in third. Ahead of the Nissan Super Sunday clash, here’s a look at some recent classics between the two teams…

Arsenal 2-2 Manchester City – September 2014

Four goals, 30 shots, a frantic finish. Barring a red card or penalty, there was not much missing from this entertaining draw as both sides failed to hold onto a lead. It was City who went ahead first as Sergio Aguero swept in from 10 yards in the 28th minute. Danny Welbeck had earlier hit the post on his Arsenal debut, but the Gunners fought back in the second half. Jack Wilshere levelled the scores with a clever chipped finish before setting up Alexis Sanchez to volley in for 2-1. Arsenal, though, could not see out the win as Martin Demichelis headed past Wojciech Szczesny from a corner in the 83rd minute. City almost snatched victory as Aleksandar Kolarov fired against the post, Laurent Koscielny cleared against the woodwork of his own goal and Szczesny saved well from Edin Dzeko. City manager Manuel Pellegrini complained there were “clear fouls” before both Arsenal goals while Arsene Wenger described his team’s comeback as “remarkable”. “The only disappointment for me is that we couldn’t keep the lead,” he added.

Manchester City 6-3 Arsenal – December 2013

Having already put six past Tottenham at the Etihad, City’s array of attacking talent repeatedly purged another shaky north London defence -although the fact the Gunners registered three in reply at least gave the scoreline a little more respectability. The nine-goal thriller began when an unmarked Aguero struck on the volley at the far post following a flick-on at a City corner. Arsenal levelled through Theo Walcott after Yaya Toure had been caught in possession on the halfway line, but Alvaro Negredo restored City’s lead from close range before half-time. Fernandinho then curled in a third soon after the break, to score his first goal for City.  Walcott got Arsenal back in it with a fine curler of his own, but the visitors’ defensive line was breached again by David Silva just three minutes later, before Fernandinho doubled his tally. A sensational game was rounded off deep into injury time by goals apiece for Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker and, from the penalty spot, Toure. “We have a lot more points to fight for; we have to keep improving,” stressed new City boss Manuel Pellegrini afterwards. “It is very important to be an entertaining team, but, for me, it will be more entertaining if we score six and concede none.”

Source: skysports.com

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Simon Mignolet has enjoyed a strong record in Merseyside derbies at Anfield thus far.

On Friday evening this week in the Championship we see Ian Holloway take his Queens Park Rangers side on the trip to the iPro Stadium to face Gary Rowett’s Derby County. These two met in the reverse fixture back in December, where at the time the Rams were sat inside the play-offs and had their eyes on promotion. Tjaronn Chery forced a good early save from Derby goalkeeper Scott Carson in a quiet first half. Carson nearly turned provider when his long ball found Ince but the midfielder dragged his shot wide of the post. However Ince made up for that error when he scored the only goal of the game with just four minutes left on the clock. Abdoul Camara’s cross was volleyed into the bottom corner emphatically to earn his side all the three points. The R’s will have felt gutted that they didn’t come away with anything after they were the better of the two sides overall.

The home side Derby County head into the visit of Queens Park Rangers hoping that they can get a win for Rowett’s first home game in charge. Overall it’s been a disappointing season for the Rams, who at one stage looked set for a play-off finish but a terrible run of form pretty much ruined those chances. The current situation sees them sat in 10th place in the table, nine points adrift of Sheffield Wednesday in sixth place. So unless something seriously drastic happens then it’s all about planning for next season under Rowett. If he can do a similar job to what he was doing at Birmingham City, they’ll have a seriously good chance next campaign. With just one win in their last ten Championship fixtures, the new gaffer will want to see a positive end to the season.

Their most recent match saw them travel to the City Ground to face their biggest rivals, Mark Warburton’s Nottingham Forest in the East Midlands Derby. Zach Clough’s prodded finish from a brilliant Daniel Pinillos cross gave the Reds a perfect start. But inside six second half minutes the Rams had turned the tie on its head. Matej Vydra levelled it up with a close range finish, then David Nugent’s put them ahead. Then just as it looked like they were going to hold on, the hosts snatched a dramatic late equaliser. Four minutes into stoppage time Pinillos powered in a header to spark great scenes at the City Ground.

Source: footaccumulators.com

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Having both won their respective 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers earlier last week, France and Spain go head-to-head in one of the most glamorous fixtures in international football.

As for the game, France recorded fourth victory in the qualifications, but the Tricolors didn’t impress anyone as Luxembourg even went on to score an equaliser to briefly go 1-1 before conceding two more. Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud netted twice, while Antoine Griezmann added another one.

On the other side, Spain played a very good game against Israel.

Two goals in each half with a diverse list of scorers which includes David Silva, Vitolo, Diego Costa and Isco will have been a fine morale boost for the Spanish side.

Since he replaced Vicente del Bosque on the Spanish bench, Julien Lopetegui is still unbeaten as he recorded five victories and two draws with 23:4 goal difference.

Source: sofascore.com

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Gareth Southgate is out to extend England’s lead at the top of their 2018 World Cup qualifying group as the Three Lions welcome Lithuania to Wembley on Sunday. Southgate trialled a new three-man defence as England lost 1-0 to Germany in Dortmund on Wednesday night, with the manager’s side impressing until Lukas Podolski’s sublime second-half winner. The Three Lions currently lead Group F with three wins and a draw from their opening four matches, but failure to beat Edgaras Jankauskas’s Lithuania this weekend could cost them top spot. The teams will also pay tribute to the victims of Wednesday afternoon’s terror attacks in London, with the FA confirming that the “bravery” of those affected will be honoured at Wembley.

TEAM NEWS

Jamie Vardy started up front against Germany in front of Marcus Rashford, though the Manchester United striker could lead the line against Lithuania.

West Ham midfielder Michail Antonio and Old Trafford defender Phil Jones have been forced to withdraw from the England squad due to injury.

Southgate has yet to confirm a replacements for either, while Gary Cahill is suspended for the qualifier.

Andy Carroll, Danny Welbeck and Theo Walcott were among the most notable absentees from Southgate’s 26-man squad, while captain Wayne Rooney also misses out.

Sunderland’s 34-year-old striker Jermain Defoe was the most notable beneficiary of the attacking trio’s absence, with Southampton duo Nathan Remond and James Ward-Prowse and West Brom midfielder Jake Livermore among the surprise inclusions.

Southgate may be tempted to start with a three-man defence once again and frontload the wings and attack, though the absence of both Cahill and Jones may make a back-two a safer option.

Lithuania’s job has been made harder with a number of key absences, as Edwin Girdvainis (injury), George Freidgeimas (suspended) and Vytautas Andriuskevicius all miss out.

Source: standard.co.uk

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Republic of Ireland boss Martin O’Neill has not given up on midfielder James McCarthy being available for Friday’s World Cup qualifier against Wales.

The Everton man has a chance of playing after taking part in training for a second successive day on Thursday.

Wales have Ben Davies available after injury ruled the Tottenham defender out of November’s draw with Serbia.

Real Madrid forward Gareth Bale and Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey are also fit having been sidelined.

The Republic will be without injured duo Daryl Murphy and Shane Duffy for their crucial World Cup qualifier against Wales.

Wes Hoolahan, Ciaran Clark and Harry Arter have withdrawn from the squad while Robbie Brady is suspended.

McCarthy has not played since 5 March because of a hamstring injury and was rated as extremely doubtful for the match at the Aviva Stadium.

He warmed up with the Irish squad in front of media at Abbotstown on Wednesday morning, and was able to continue for the closed part of the session.

Manager O’Neill and Everton boss Ronald Koeman have clashed on more than one occasion over the Republic’s use of McCarthy on his return from injury.

Seamus Coleman, Shane Long and Jonathan Hayes, who sat out Tuesday’s training, were all able to take a full part in Wednesday’s session.

Head-to-head

• Wales have not won against the Republic of Ireland in their past six games, with their most recent victory a 1-0 friendly win in February 1992.
• The Republic of Ireland have won five of the 13 meetings between the two sides, with Wales winning five and three draws.
• Only two matches between Wales and the Republic of Ireland have ended goalless.

Republic of Ireland

• Martin O’Neill has only lost eight of 35 games in charge of the Republic of Ireland.
• O’Neill’s side have scored 11 goals in their past five games in all competitions.

Wales

• Wales have not lost a qualifying match for a major international tournament since their 2-0 defeat by Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 2015.
• After comfortably beating Moldova in their first Group D World Cup qualifier, Wales have drawn their qualifying games against Austria, Georgia and Serbia.

Source: bbc.co.uk

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Forward Raheem Sterling missed training on Tuesday and is a doubt for England’s friendly against Germany in Dortmund.

Gary Cahill will captain the Three Lions on Wednesday, while manager Gareth Southgate has decided against calling up a replacement for injured defender Phil Jones.

Former Arsenal attacker Lukas Podolski will captain Germany as he wins his 130th and final cap.

Mesut Ozil, Julian Draxler, Mario Gomez and Manuel Neuer are all injured.

The fixture is Southgate’s first since being appointed on a permanent basis in November, following a four-game spell as caretaker which brought two wins and two draws.

England are without regular captain Wayne Rooney against the 2014 world champions, while Harry Kane and Daniel Sturridge miss out through injury. That leaves Jermain Defoe, Jamie Vardy and Marcus Rashford as the only strikers in Southgate’s squad.

On Sunday, uncapped West Ham winger Michail Antonio – who has been playing in an advanced role for West Ham – withdrew because of a hamstring injury.

The trip to Germany is followed on Sunday by a World Cup qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley.

Speaking about Sterling’s fitness concerns, Southgate said: “I’ve got to balance what is right for Wednesday and what is right for Sunday as well, so we’ll keep monitoring that.

“We are in a position where we haven’t been able to get all the players on the field until today and then you’ve got to see how they come through training.

“It’s a little bit later than we’d have liked but that’s the nature of it.”

Cahill will miss the Lithuania match because of suspension, and Southgate said he would consider whether to add an extra defender to his party to provide cover for when the squad return to England.

For Germany, the match against England is a chance to say goodbye to 31-year-old Galatasaray forward Podolski, who quit international football after Euro 2016 with 48 goals from 129 caps but returns for a farewell game.

“It’s not easy to replace Podolski in the team. He is unique. He is one of the greatest players that Germany has produced,” said boss Joachim Low.

Podolski, who won the 2014 World Cup with Germany, will join Japanese side Vissel Kobe after the Turkish season ends in May.

Source: bbc.co.uk

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West Brom winger Matt Phillips is expected to miss out against Arsenal because of a hamstring injury.

Head coach Tony Pulis has suggested he will make changes in response to successive league defeats.

Mohamed Elneny is available for Arsenal after making a quicker than expected recovery from an ankle injury.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Kieran Gibbs are both fitness doubts and will be assessed, while Santi Cazorla remains a long-term absentee.

MATCH FACTS

Head-to-head

• West Brom’s only win in the last 13 competitive meetings came at The Hawthorns last season. They could earn consecutive top-flight home victories against Arsenal for the first time since a run of six in a row from 1951 to 1956.
• Arsenal have scored in 22 consecutive league matches against West Brom, winning 15 of them, since a 0-0 away draw in November 1985.

West Bromwich Albion

• The Baggies could lose three Premier League games in a row for the first time this season. They have never suffered three straight league defeats without scoring since Tony Pulis took charge in January 2015.
• West Brom have won seven of their last nine league matches at The Hawthorns. However, they are vying to avoid consecutive home defeats for the first time since last April.
• Albion have only earned one point from their nine games against the seven sides above them in the league table – losing seven in a row since a home draw with Spurs in October.
• Salomon Rondon has failed to score in all 13 league and cup appearances since his hat-trick against Swansea City on 14 December.

Arsenal

• The Gunners have lost three of their last four league fixtures, as well as suffering two 5-1 defeats against Bayern Munich during that period.
• Arsenal have been beaten in five of their last 11 league matches. Their previous five losses were spread over 40 games.
• They are in danger of losing three successive Premier League away games for the first time since October 2011.
• Arsene Wenger’s side have won only one of their last six away matches in the league and kept one clean sheet in the last nine.
• Alexis Sanchez has been directly involved in a league-high 26 goals in as many appearances this season, scoring 17 and providing nine assists.
• Aaron Ramsey could make his 200th Premier League appearance.

Source: bbc.co.uk

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Bristol City boss Lee Johnson has called off striker Gustav Engvall’s loan move to Swedish side Djurgardens after Milan Djuric was ruled out for up to six weeks after a hernia operation.

Goalkeeper Fabian Giefer (eye) could come back in, but Frank Fielding kept a clean sheet in the win over Wigan.

Huddersfield Town boss David Wagner has no new injury or suspension concerns.

The Terriers will close the gap on second-placed Brighton to three points if they win at Ashton Gate.

Match facts

• Bristol City have scored in each of their last 10 home league games against Huddersfield, a run stretching back to 1989.
• Elias Kachunga and Nahki Wells were on target for the Terriers as they came out 2-1 winners in the reverse fixture in December.
• Huddersfield have allowed their opponents just 341 shots in total in the Championship this season; fewer than any other team.
• Huddersfield Town have scored just five goals in their last five league games (one in each match) and all five goals have come from different players.
• After winning six of their first 11 Championship games this season, Bristol City have since collected just four wins in their last 26 games in the competition.
• The Robins have won just six points from their last nine Championship home matches (W1 D3 L5).

Source: bbc.co.uk

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