Manchester City snatched a 2-2 draw deep into stoppage time in their most recent Premier League meeting on September 22, 2024.
City claimed a record-breaking fourth successive English title on the final day of last season, when the Gunners finished as runners-up for the second consecutive campaign. Despite having Leandro Trossard sent off on the stroke of halftime, Mikel Arteta's side were seconds away from a famous victory to set the tone in the 2024/25 title battle before John Stones had other ideas.
Arsenal have won three Premier League titles, all under Arsene Wenger, and have 13 league titles to their name. Although the Invincibles of the 2003/04 season hold a lot of authority, Guardiola has helped write Man City's name into the history books.
Five in a row would further burnish his team's status, notwithstanding the outcome of the Premier League's case against its perpetual champions that came before an independent panel on September 16, 2024. Arsenal appear the best-placed team to put a stop to this unprecedented run of dominance from the blue side of Manchester.
But which side out of City and Arsenal boasts the superior head-to-head record? Here are the details of this matchup.
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Man City vs. Arsenal history, head to head
Man City have faced Arsenal 212 times in their history, with their first meeting coming back in 1893 when the two teams were known as Ardwick and Woolwich Arsenal.
Despite Arsenal winning the first three matchups, Man City had a pretty good record against the Gunners. However, Arsenal did improve that as time went on until 2008, when the Abu Dhabi-backed buyout of City changed their fortunes.
Arsenal have won 99 of the 212 meetings and Man City have won 65, with 48 games ending in a draw. That includes the 2023 Community Shield match, which finished 1-1 before the Gunners triumphed on penalties.
| Competition/Venue | Matches | Arsenal wins | Man City wins | Draws |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | 193 | 88 | 59 | 46 |
| FA Cup | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| EFL Cup | 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Community Shield | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Stats provided by 11vs11.com
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Man City vs. Arsenal in the Premier League
This fixture has provided some iconic moments over the past two decades in particular. This has been due to Man City's growing dominance as well as a few players moving from one club to the other.
Man City 4-2 Arsenal, September 2009
Man City had been active in the transfer market and bought Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Toure from the Gunners. The striker would go onto make headlines when the two sides met early in the campaign.
With City leading 2-1 after a curler from Craig Bellamy, Adebayor doubled their lead with a brilliant header. The striker then caused controversy with his celebration as he ran the length of the pitch before knee-sliding in front of the travelling Arsenal fans.
12 years ago today, Emmanuel Adebayor scored against Arsenal, marking his goal with a muted celebration out of respect for his former employers 👏👏👏 #Class #Respect pic.twitter.com/HWQBX9hOg1
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) September 12, 2021
Some fans threw whatever they could at him because of how the forward reacted. City went onto take all three points with a 4-2 win.
Man City 6-3 Arsenal, December 2013
The Gunners' frail backline and City's attacking power was shown in a nine-goal thriller at Etihad Stadium back in the 2013/14 season.
Arsenal did manage to score three in the game, but the hosts kept picking apart and breaching their defence. The likes of David Silva, Yaya Toure, and Sergio Aguero all got on the scoresheet to stop any danger of an Arsenal comeback.
Theo Walcott scored twice in the match while Per Mertesacker also bagged a consolation goal in injury time. It was a game which highlighted the direction each team was going in with their respective hierarchy.
Man City 4-1 Arsenal, April 2023
What had been billed as a battle of title contenders ended up being worryingly one-sided from an Arsenal perspective.
Kevin De Bruyne scored two goals either side of a headed finish from John Stones, putting City in control in less than an hour. Rob Holding got a goal back late on before Erling Haaland struck in injury time to put the gloss on a stunning victory.
Arsenal were still two points above City following the result, but Guardiola's men had two games in hand on their rivals. They went on to win the title by five points from the Gunners.
Man City 2-2 Arsenal, September 2024
Despite taking four points off City in the games between the teams in 2023/24, Arsenal were unable to stop another march to the title from Guardiola's side. They fell behind early in this encounter as Haaland dispatched Savinho's through-ball and Ilkay Gundogan almost doubled the damage when he clipped a free-kick against the post.
But the game turned on its head around the midway point of the first half. City lost talismanic midfielder Rodri to injury shortly before Riccardo Calafiori planted a sublime 25-yard strike beyond Ederson. Gabriel headed Arsenal in front from a 45th-minute corner but events took another twist as Trossard was given his second yellow card for kicking the ball away.
Arsenal produced an obdurate performance after the interval and David Raya excelled between the posts. Eventually, they fell just short as Jack Grealish's cleverly instigated short corner led to Stones pilfering a point.
