Four days after facing off in the EFL Cup final at Wembley Stadium, Arsenal and Manchester City once again lock horns in the capital with Premier League points up for grabs.
The Citizens strolled to a 3-0 victory on Sunday afternoon to win the first of a possible three trophies this season, while at the same time leaving their opponents with just one piece of silverware to aim for.
Arsenal
© SilverHub
Long-serving manager Arsene Wenger may have become an expert at picking up results just when his time has looked to be up, but there is a real sense around the Emirates Stadium that the end really is now near.
Victory over Man City at Wembley, despite the contrasting form of the two sides, would not have been at all surprising considering the Frenchman's ability to grind out big results - as three FA Cup successes in four years goes a long way to showing.
There will be no domestic honours arriving at Arsenal this season, though, as they are now out of both cup competitions and a whopping 27 points adrift of Thursday night's opponents, while even a top-four finish looks to be out of the question.
Suffering their heaviest ever cup final defeat was not the only blow sustained by the Gunners at the weekend, as they also witnessed Tottenham Hotspur score late on at Crystal Palace to move 10 points in front in the race for a Champions League spot.
Even accounting for this game in hand, Arsenal will require two of the four sides directly in front of them to suffer a serious downturn in fortunes if they are to avoid missing out on the top four in back-to-back campaigns - something that seemed unimaginable under Wenger not so long ago.
Lifting the Europa League is now the only possible way for Wenger to salvage something from this season, though last week's draw was not too kind for the Gunners, pitting them against an in-form AC Milan side for a place in the quarter-finals.
If the 2-1 home loss to Ostersunds is anything to go by then Arsenal can forget about any sort of backdoor entry into the Champions League, which will leave club bosses with a big decision to make in the summer - do they stick or twist?
Four defeats in seven matches is made all the more frustrating for supporters when factoring in the recent performances against Crystal Palace and Everton, scoring a combined nine goals in those home league fixtures, though such inconsistency is likely to continue until changes are made at the top.
Recent form in Premier League: DLWLWL
Recent form (all competitions): LDLWLL
Manchester City
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The mood could not be any different around the Etihad Stadium, it is fair to say, as Man City remain on course for an EFL Cup, Premier League and Champions League treble in Pep Guardiola's second campaign at the helm.
If 2016-17 was a learning curve for the Catalan coach - his first trophyless term in senior management - then this time around it has been all about ticking off each game as they arrive to remain on track for the greatest season in the club's history.
Last week's 1-0 FA Cup loss to Wigan Athletic may have been a crushing blow to the Citizens, ending their quadruple quest in a shock manner, but lifting the EFL Cup for the fifth time in their history - and third time in five years - was not a bad way to respond.
The defeat at the DW Stadium was such a shock due to the ruthless manner in which Guardiola's charges have gone about their business over the last 10 months, losing just three of their 49 matches since last term's FA Cup semi-final loss to, ironically enough, Arsenal.
With the job all but done in the Champions League last 16, leading Basel 4-0 ahead of next week's home return leg, City can now turn focus back to the English top flight following an 18-day break.
A lot has happened since thrashing Leicester City 5-1 at the Etihad Stadium last time out - a result that got them back on track after dropping points in three of their previous six prior to that.
The Citizens are now 13 points clear at the top with this game in hand to play, meaning that they can afford to lose their next four matches and still find themselves ahead of the chasing pack, who are all left vying it out for second place.
Lifting the Premier League trophy for a third time is now a formality, though City will hope to do it with a record number of points - 95, set by Chelsea 13 years ago - and they know that victory on Thursday will keep them well on course to surpassing that tally.
Recent form in Premier League: WLWWDW
Recent form (all competitions): WDWWLW
Team News
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Arsenal were without the cup-tied Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Sunday's showdown at Wembley, so the Armenian playmaker looks certain to be restored to the starting lineup on Thursday evening.
Nacho Monreal picked up an injury last time out and is unlikely to recover in time for this one, meaning that Wenger will likely revert back to a flat-back four following his failed experiment at Wembley.
Goalkeeper Petr Cech is expected to start in place of cup specialist David Ospina, meanwhile, and both Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil are in line to feature after returning to action at the weekend.
The big question mark for the visitors concerns 20-goal wideman Raheem Sterling, who has missed the last two games with a muscular injury and remains doubtful for the second meeting between these sides in a matter of days.
Gabriel Jesus did come off the bench for his first playing minutes of 2018 on Sunday, though, and could reduce some of the workload on Sergio Aguero's shoulders in attack.
At the back, John Stones and Aymeric Laporte are pushing for starts after being overlooked for the final, but Fernandinho is almost certain to miss out on selection after picking up a hamstring injury.
Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Cech; Kolasinac, Mustafi, Koscielny, Bellerin; Wilshere, Elneny, Wilshere; Ozil, Aubameyang, Mkhitaryan
Manchester City possible starting lineup:
Ederson; Walker, Stones, Laporte, Delph; De Bruyne, Gundogan, Silva; Silva, Aguero, Sterling
Head To Head
Sunday's clash at Wembley was the first ever meeting between the two sides in a major final, though Arsenal had won both previous encounters at the national stadium - the 2014 Community Shield and last year's FA Cup semi-final.
City have now lost just one of their last six encounters with Arsenal overall, winning three times during that run, including in the reverse league game nearly four months ago when prevailing 3-1.
The Gunners most recently won at the Etihad Stadium in January 2015, as they produced an impressive defensive display before picking off their opponents in a rare win away to a top-six rival.
We say: Arsenal 1-1 Manchester City
Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne both stressed in the immediate aftermath of City's Wembley triumph that there would be no time for celebrating, as attention soon turned to this showdown with Arsenal and their hunt for a treble. The Gunners will be desperate to exact some sort of revenge on their opponents, but only three teams have been able to stop them over the past 10 months.
Daniel Lewis
