Tonight’s vital Premier League title match pits former coworkers Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta against one another.
Table-topping Arsenal leads Manchester City by five points, but City has two games in hand and is now in charge of their own fate as they try to win the title.
Arteta joined City as Guardiola’s assistant coach in 2016, but left to become the head coach of the Arsenal in 2019.
Ahead of tonight’s potential title decider, we turn the spotlight on the battle between managerial master and an apprentice who has been leading the way this season.
Bogey side
Arteta’s Arsenal have lost all six of their previous league games against City.
They are the only side that the 41-year-old’s team have failed to beat in the competition since he became manager of the North Londoners.
Of the six defeats, three have come at City’s Etihad Stadium, with the hosts keeping a clean sheet on every occasion.
In the reverse fixture at the Emirates this season, Guardiola’s side took charge in the second half, overpowering their rivals in a 3-1 victory.
In addition, the two teams have met three times in cups. The first occasion was the one match in which Arteta’s Arsenal have triumphed over City, beating them 2-0 in the 2019-20 FA Cup semi-finals.
The Gunners have lost the two subsequent cup ties. They were defeated 4-1 at home in the 2020-21 Carabao Cup quarter-finals and were knocked out of the FA Cup this season, in a 1-0 away loss.