Roberto Mancini: "Arsenal are a fantastic club"

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has described Arsenal as "one of the best teams in the world".

The reigning English champions will host the Gunners at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday.

"They are one of the best teams in the world," said Mancini. "They played very well at Liverpool away recently and that showed this will be a difficult game for us. They are very strong, especially with counter-attacking.

"They have lost [Robin] Van Persie and [Alex] Song but I think they have less pressure and can fight for the title because they have good players.

"I like [Lukas] Podolski, I like [Santi] Cazorla, I like [Olivier] Giroud. I think they had a good market in the transfer window. Arsenal are a fantastic club for me."

Both Arsenal and City have collected eight points from four matches in the league so far.