Match Week 30, Match Day LIVE.
English Premiership League .
Sunday , March 31st , 2024.
Man City vs Arsenal at Etihad Stadium.

A huge game caps what could be a potentially pivotal Easter Sunday in the race for the top-flight championship, following hot on the heels of Liverpool s clash with Brighton .

Can Gunners break or wipe off their empirical Etihad CURSE after surviving a NEAR MISS Champions League CURSE against Porto, two weeks ago,? That’s the billion dollar question .Can Arsenal land the victory that could prove defining as they look to end a two-decade wait for a league title? The last time Arsenal won at Etihad was in 2015 during Arsene Wenger managerial years .
An Easter Sunday Etihad extravaganza headlines the return of Premier League football following the international break, as holders Manchester City welcome leaders Arsenal to their headquarters for a battle of epic proportions.
Mikel Arteta returns to his former stomping ground with his side boasting a one-point lead over the treble winners, which will increase to four if they can banish their nine-year well KNOWN ETIHAD CURSE.

The football rivalry between this two Premiership giants is legendary , and full of ups and downs . Manchester City will be looking to leapfrog Arsenal when they host their Premier League rivals at the Etihad with the visitors hoping to banish their 9 year old ETIHAD CURSE, that have been following them for long . Etihad as a fortress ,has been saddled with home defeats to visiting teams in the EPL and in all competitions as well . Beating City at Etihad is like sighting a Harleys Comet which is more or less a rarity , , but City should not be complacent because Gunners threat is also real with their pukka play ,precise passes and over all football prowess despite their absence in lifting any European Cup in their football history ,.

When Guardiola sanctioned Arteta’s departure to the Emirates who would’ have thought that the former Gunners midfielder would potentially be the man ending the Catalan’s dominance of the Premier League. As things stand, heading into today s evening showdown, the Gunners have a one point lead over City..on the Epl table A win for them today gives them 4 points ahead of the Citizens.
Liverpool s win today will rewrite the table before the ETIHAD Breaking of CURSE match for Gunners . A changing of the guard may also occur before Sunday’s blockbuster showdown commences at the Etihad, as Liverpool need only a point from their match with Brighton & Hove Albion to rise to the summit of the rankings, thereby making the closing act an encounter between the silver and bronze medallists.

, Man City , AKA the Citizens , finishing on the lowest spot on the podium would be an unwanted collector’s item under Pep Guardiola – whose former apprentice and creche/pre- nursery pupil ,, Arteta has quickly become a master of sorts – although that has nothing to do with their near-superior form in 2024..

Pep may down play their ambitions of another treble this season but it’s very clear that they are in their way again for it , with their last win against the Magypies two weeks ago before the Inteenstional break , 2-0.,, stretches Man City’s exceptional unbeaten run across all tournaments to 22 matches since December’s humbling at the hands of Aston Villa – including each of their last 13 in the Premier League – and their streak without defeat on Etihad turf stands at an astonishing 38, except their surprise 2-1 loss in November 2022 to Brentford , have Man City been on the losing side in front of the sky blue wall.

However , quickly exorcising the demons of a woeful winter period, where Gunners got one win from seven matches amid the festivities, Arsenal’s perfect Premier League record in 2024 now reads an extraordinary eight wins from eight matches, a feat never achieved before in the club’s rich history..
Also Arsenal have won their last two games against City , one in the Community Sheld as well as the slim win this season at the Emirates .

Manchester City will hope to have Kevin De Bruyne fit and ready for today’s colossal Premier League title clash with Arsenal.
Pep Guardiola’s defending champions have endured a torrid international break on the fitness front, suffering setback after setback ahead of undoubtedly one of the biggest games in their season.
City lost both defenders Kyle Walker and John Stones to leg muscle injuries on England duty and neither were spotted in Thursday’s open training session. Guardiola has since confirmed that the duo will miss the game against Arsenal.
However, influential captain De Bruyne did feature having sat out Belgium’s recent matches with a groin problem which had previously kept him sidelined for his club’s FA Cup quarter-final win over Newcastle a fortnight ago
Manuel Akanji picked up a knock while away with Switzerland but has been able to train in the build-up to Arsenal’s visit, as has first-choice goalkeeper Ederson after his short absence due to injury. Jack Grealish is expected to be available too having shaken off a groin issue.
Rico Lewis stepped in for Rodri when the Spanish midfielder missed the trip to Arsenal earlier in the season and appears the natural fit to start if Walker misses out.

As City players dropped like flies over the international break, so did a handful of Arsenal’s key troops, as Brazil defender Gabriel Magalhaes and England winger Bukayo Saka both withdrew from their countries’ camps before playing a game.

Gabriel Martinelli – scorer of Arsenal’s solitary goal in October’s win over Man City – was already a known absentee with his foot wound, although Arteta is hopeful that all three will be able to shake off their niggles in time to reprise their regular starting roles; he confirmed on Friday that there was a “chance” for all three of them.

Takehiro Tomiyasu and Thomas Partey are also expected to be available after facing Queens Park Rangers in a behind-closed-doors friendly during the international break, potentially leaving ACL victim Jurrien Timber as their only absentee, but the Dutchman is on course to play again before the season draws to a close..

No one enjoys visiting the Etihad given City are unbeaten in their last 38 home games in all competitions (W33 D5), since a 2-1 loss against Brentford in November 2022.
That streak is Man City’s second longest run without defeat at home in their history, after a run of 42 between December 1919 and November 1921, while they have scored in each of their last 57 home games in all competitions, their longest such scoring streak in club history
Predictions , Manchester City vs Arsenal
Sunday’s appetizing affair pits the unstoppable force of Arsenal – boasting a 100% Premier League record in 2024 – against the immovable object of Man City, without defeat on their own patch in an astounding 16 months..

Predictions – 2-1
Happy Easter , Happy Viewing at the Citizens Fortress , Etihad , where the Gunners second anscentral CURSE may be wiped away this evening ..

UcheFreetips (2024 C).
www.worldbeatx.com