Arsenal vs. Man City: How Gunners can play into Viktor Gyokeres's hands after Champions League hat-trick

Arsenal can play into Viktor Gyokeres's hands against Manchester City on Sunday and will not fear defeat against their former perpetual nemesis, Charles Watts has told Sports Mole.

The Gunners and Pep Guardiola's side headline this weekend's top-flight action at the Emirates Stadium, where Gyokeres will endeavour to build on a positive record of three goals from his first four Premier League matches since his big-money move from Sporting Lisbon.

Gyokeres struck Arsenal's second goal in their 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest last weekend to complement his brace against Leeds United, but he has struggled against the so-called bigger teams in Manchester United, Liverpool and Athletic Bilbao.

However, Watts is not overly concerned about the prospect of Gyokeres drawing another blank this weekend, although he can envisage the Swede coming good on the counter-attack, as he did in last year's 4-1 Champions League win for Sporting where he scored a hat-trick against the Sky Blues.

“I don't really care who he scores against," Watts said. "I'm actually glad who he's scoring against at the moment, because those are the teams that Arsenal struggled to beat over the last few years. It’s why Arteta wanted that absolute goal machine in and around the penalty area.

“He scored a hat-trick against them last season, and watching the chances United had on the breakaway that they didn't take advantage of, Arsenal will be looking at that and looking at getting Gyokeres, Eze or Madueke away early, and they'll fancy their chances of picking the City off on the counter.

“It might play into Gyokeres’s hands, you know. It'd be a real boost for him, but I don't get too caught up in that. I’m surprised at the scrutiny he seems to be under already. Three goals in four games; if you keep doing that, you're going to end up over 20 goals and Arsenal are going to be very, very close to winning something very, very big.”

Gyokeres will be leading the line for an Arsenal side who are searching for a third successive home win over Man City, whom they slaughtered 5-1 last year following a narrow 1-0 home success in the 2023-24 campaign.

Why Watts is "expecting an Arsenal win" against Man City

The Gunners have also come away from their last two Etihad scraps with a point, last losing to Mikel Arteta's former employers in the 2022-23 campaign, and they could beat City in back-to-back league games for the first time in nearly a decade.

Not since December 2015 have Arsenal claimed successive wins over Man City in the top flight, and they hold a three-point advantage over the Citizens in the Premier League table courtesy of their opponents' consecutive losses to Brighton & Hove Albion and Tottenham Hotspur.

As a result, Watts expects Arsenal to "relish" the challenge that Man City will pose, and even with a few key men possibly absent, he is expecting the hosts to come up trumps.

“Arsenal should not fear defeat in this game," Watts added. "And they won't. They’ll relish it. The 5-1 will live long in the memory; that second half was very special 35 minutes from the moment Haaland equalised. The kind of game you don't get against a team like Manchester City. It was just a lot of fun.

“Man City will absolutely be remembering that, Pep will be remembering that, I bet Erling Haaland will be remembering what he went through from the fans! They're going to be coming to the Emirates with a point to prove and with revenge on their mind, I would imagine.

“Arsenal are going to have to deal with that. City are on the back of a good win against Manchester United. Haaland scoring eight million goals in a couple of games is going to help him as well! It's definitely not going to be another 5-1; you’d imagine it's going to go back to being a tight game, very small margins.

“But Arsenal have got themselves a squad that can go into these games with absolutely no fear, even if they're missing Saka, Odegaard. So I'm expecting an Arsenal win.”

Arteta was without Martin Odegaard, Bukayo Saka, Ben White, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus for Tuesday's 2-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League, and the latter two are guaranteed to miss Saturday's clash as well owing to their knee injuries.

How Noni Madueke can become an Arsenal "hero" vs. Man City

Odegaard, Saka and White have not been ruled out of the contest just yet - Arteta was tight-lipped when asked about the trio in his pre-game press conference - but Saka in particular will be cutting it close to recover from his hamstring injury in time.

However, the explosive displays of Noni Madueke on the right have eased any concerns about Saka's layoff, although the ex-Chelsea man is still waiting for his first goal or assist in red and white.

Madueke could come up against a Rayan Ait-Nouri-less Man City this weekend, though, and Watts can envisage the 23-year-old making himself a "hero" by finally opening his account against one of Arsenal's title rivals.

“He'll enjoy himself at the moment against any player," Watts added. "He’s full of confidence after what he did for England, played brilliantly at the weekend. He had the stadium on their feet every single time he went forward. You could sense the excitement and electricity. He ended it with no goals and no assists, though, which is the one thing.

“You do need to produce the end product in those positions. Maybe Saka doesn't quite have that same excitement level when he runs at players, but Saka delivers. He will score goals and set goals up. And that's what Madueke needs to add to his game. And I'm sure he will.

“But as good as he played at the weekend, being without Saka for this game will be a massive blow. He is Arsenal's guy, he makes the difference in the final third. You always have to take what he says with a pinch of salt injury-wise and work out if he's playing a game, but those quotes certainly made it look like he's not going to be back for Manchester City.

“It’s a big, big opportunity for Madueke again. He gave everyone a glimpse of what he can do, got a standing ovation as he went off. That was fantastic, especially when you think about what he went through when he signed. But now build on that, go and do it against Manchester City, and you’re going to make yourself a hero very, very quickly.”

Odegaard and White are also touch-and-go for the meeting with Man City, and Arteta has three intriguing options to replace the former should a shoulder injury keep him out of the weekend's main event.

> Click here to watch the full preview of Arsenal's Premier League clash with Man City