With Chelsea having already played on Saturday, Jose Mourinho’s men could potentially sit five points clear at the Premier League’s summit when Arsenal roll up to the City of Manchester Stadium, making a return to winning ways following last week’s dropped points at Everton an absolute must.

Fortunately, in Arsenal, City face an opponent who have not beaten them at home since the 2010/2011 season and they will be further buoyed by the fact that they have not lost at the City of Manchester Stadium in the Premier League since the shock 1-0 reverse to Stoke last August.

With that in mind, it’s not hard to see why the hosts have been named as 4/5 favourites to pick up all three points (the Gunners come in at 18/5, while the draw is priced at 3/1) – and with last season’s 6-3 triumph still lingering in the memory, there could be a few goals this time out as well.

Despite conceding a late equaliser to Roberto Martinez’s side in their last game, the Sky Blues will have been hugely encouraged by the return of their leading goalscorer, Sergio Aguero, who came on as a second-half substitute for Stevan Jovetic and is again likely play some part against Arsenal.

The Argentine scored against the Gunners in the reverse fixture in September and has been installed as the 7/2 favourite to be the game’s first scorer despite the possibility of City manager, Manuel Pellegrini, easing him back into competitive action. However, given we do not yet know how the Chilean intends to use his star player, there may be better value to be had on playmaker, David Silva.

The Spanish midfielder has two goals in his last three Premier League appearances against Arsenal and is priced at 7/1 to open the scoring – and having been at the heart of everything good about City’s draw with Everton, he looks slightly over-priced to return to haunt Arsene Wenger’s men here.

Although the visitors have an appalling away record against teams in the top four, it should be noted that the Gunners have failed to score in just two Premier League games this season – and with City conceding six goals in the four games following their last clean sheet against Crystal Palace, backing both teams to find the net looks a likely source of returns at 3/5, as does the 7/5 on over 2.5 goals.

While it is again hard to look beyond Alexis Sanchez for an Arsenal scorer, it is worth pointing out that two thirds of the Chilean’s goals have come at home in the league this season and at just 6/1 to score first, he hardly looks a banker here. Of perhaps more interest is the returning Theo Walcott, who was handed a golden opportunity to open his account for the season in the last game against Stoke, only to badly fluff his lines. With match sharpness undoubtedly a factor, should the England man be presented with a similar opportunity, don’t bet against him finding the net this time at 4/1.

Arsenal have failed to score in just two Premier League games this season, both away to Southampton and Chelsea.