(Football news) Reigning champions Manchester City will look to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table to 11 points by winning their 11th consecutive Premier League match in a row against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. However, Arsenal are not the same team who were humiliated 5-0 by Man City in their third match of the season and the Gunners are in fine goalscoring form, finding the net 14 times in their last three matches. However, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta will not be on the touchline after testing positive for COVID-19 as the Gunners look to cement their top 4 place in the Premier League.

Manchester City have looked like champions throughout this season, collecting 50 points from their opening 20 matches in the league and are eight points clear of both Chelsea and Liverpool who will face each other later. Arsenal seems like a happy hunting ground for Man City who have defeated the Gunners 11 times out of their last 12 encounters and will be desperate to get a result this week as at least one of their rivals will definitely drop points this weekend. Arsenal will be without Sead Kolasinac while Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang continues to be sidelined from the team. Positive COVID-19 tests to Calum Chambers, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Cedric Soares, Ainsley Maitland-Niles means they will be unavailable for selection as well.

For Manchester City, Kyle Walker, Rodri and John Stones remain doubtful due to their fitness as the trio also didn’t feature against Brentford. Nathan Ake is expected to feature at left back while  Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez and Raheem Sterling are expected to start. Jack Grealish Gabriel Jesus might be dropped as Phil Foden could feature in a false nine position with Riyad Mahrez playing in a wide position. It would be the perfect opportunity for Manchester City to get the three points this weekend and will hope for a draw in the fixture between Chelsea and Liverpool to extend their lead by 10 points on the table.

Also read: Manchester United bounce back with comfortable home win over Burnley

Chelsea will take on Liverpool at Stamford Bridge as the second and third sides face off in a clash to remain in the title race. After Thomas Tuchel’s side endured a disappointing draw against Brighton, the Blues will be desperate to get their season back on track but face a tough test against Liverpool who have only lost twice all season but have also failed to beat three London sides in Brentford, West Ham and Tottenham so far. Chelsea will be without Reece James and Andreas Christensen while Ben Chilwell is undergoing surgery for an ACL problem. Thiago Silva, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Timo Werner are also expected to be absent for the fixture.

For Liverpool, Andy Robertson will be serving his suspension after receiving a red card against Tottenham while Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita are available for now before the beginning of the African Cup of Nations. Takumi Minamino, Thiago Alcantara, Nat Phillips, Adrian, Divock Origi and Harvey Elliott will also be unavailable for selection. Despite a draw being the most favourable result for Man City, Liverpool will be expected to clinch three points from this fixture given Chelsea’s form and depleted squad.

Manchester United will take on Wolves at Old Trafford as Ralf Rangnick will hope to maintain his side’s momentum after a 3-1 victory over Burnley. Bruno Fernandes will be available for selection after serving his suspension while Raphael Varane is expected to be restored back into the line up ahead of Eric Bailly. Victor Lindelof remains doubtful to feature after testing positive for COVID-19 while Paul Pogba remains unavailable due to a thigh injury. The Red Devils have defeated Wolves in their last three Premier League games and have a higher win rate in January compared to any other team in the history of the league (65.5% – won 74 of 113 games) while Wolves have the lowest win rate in the league in the same month (17.2% – won five of 29 games).

For Wolves, the team selection remains unclear as manager Bruno Lage is yet to learn who has and hasn’t tested positive for COVID-19 after their last game against Arsenal was called off due to the number of positive cases at the club. Jonny (knee), Pedro Neto (knee), Hwang Hee-Chan (hamstring), Yerson Mosquera (hamstring) and Willy Boly (calf) are unavailable for selection while Rayan Ait-Nouri is doubtful due to a groin problem. While the reverse fixture earlier this season can be described as a lucky result for Manchester United, they are expected to get the three points this time around in a more dominant performance than what we saw at the Molineux Stadium.