Man City's game at Arsenal massive for Guardiola to show he's still the top

At the start of Arsenal’s 2002-03 season, Arsene Wenger told us he thought we had what it takes to go unbeaten over the entire campaign.

All was going to plan in the first nine games. But then we lost the 10th — 2-1 at Everton with a certain 16-year-old called Wayne Rooney scoring the last-minute winner — and then the 11th at Highbury with a 2-1 defeat by Blackburn. Even when you’re on the inside of a highly successful team, it is impossible to stop doubts from creeping into your mind when you lose one game, let alone two.

It can be a shock to the system if you aren’t used to it. You go from feeling invincible to vulnerable, and how you bounce back is important. Arsenal managed it — we became the Invincibles the following season under Wenger — and Pep Guardiola will have been relieved to see how his Manchester City team responded when they went to RB Leipzig in the Champions League in midweek.

That came immediately after losing 1-0 at Newcastle in the Carabao Cup and 2-1 at Wolves in the Premier League.

Two defeats on the trot is almost a crisis for a club of City’s standards. But they bounced back in Leipzig with a 3-1 win and that was needed before this trip to Arsenal. This is a massive match between last season’s top two Premier League teams — it is a chance for one to stamp their authority on the other. Guardiola’s City want to show why they’re still top dogs, despite their uncharacteristic defeats of late, while Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal will want to show how far they’ve come since last season.