The latest instalment of Pep Guardiola versus Mikel Arteta takes centre stage at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon as Manchester City lock horns with Premier League title rivals Arsenal.
Guardiola currently sees his Citizens side sitting the top of the table after winning each of their opening four matches by an aggregate score of 11-3, most recently beating Brentford 2-1 on home soil last weekend.
Arsenal, meanwhile, have accumulated 10 points from their opening four top-flight fixtures, including all three collected from a narrow 1-0 North London derby triumph over Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, and Arteta's side sit second in the table, just two points off top spot.
Both Man City and Arsenal enter this contest after playing out 0-0 draws with Italian opposition in the Champions League in midweek - the Citizens shared the spoils with Inter Milan and the Gunners picked up a point against Atalanta BC.
Guardiola has had plenty of memorable encounters with Arsenal over the years, particularly during his trophy-laden nine-year reign at Man City.
Ahead of Sunday's mouthwatering top-of-the-table clash, Sports Mole takes a closer look at Guardiola's managerial record against Arsenal.
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Pep Guardiola's record vs. Arsenal
Played: 30
Won: 20
Drawn: 4
Lost: 6
Pep Guardiola's record as Man City manager vs. Arsenal
Played: 22
Won: 16
Drawn: 2
Lost: 4
Pep Guardiola's illustrious managerial career stretches across 16 years and in that period he has faced Arsenal a total of 30 times in all competitions - more than any other club.
The Catalan coach boasts a 66.67% win rate against the Gunners as he has led three different clubs to a combined 20 victories - the most of his managerial career against one club - while he has also played out four draws and suffered six defeats. A total of 66 goals have been scored by Guardiola's sides, who have also conceded 29 times.
Excluding neutral venues, Guardiola has won 11, drawn two and lost zero of his 13 home meetings with Arsenal, while he has won eight, drawn two and lost three of his 13 away encounters.
Guardiola's first eight meetings with Arsenal were in the Champions League during his times in charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich, and with both clubs he recorded two wins, one draw and one defeat versus the Gunners.
At Barcelona, Guardiola celebrated a 6-3 aggregate win in the 2009-10 quarter-finals which was followed by a 4-3 aggregate win in the 2010-11 last 16 - Arsenal beat Barca 2-1 at the Emirates in the first leg of that last-16 tie before losing the second leg 3-1 at Camp Nou.
While at Bayern, Guardiola steered the German giants to a 3-1 aggregate success in the 2013-14 last 16, before experiencing mixed fortunes in the 2015-16 group stage, losing 2-0 at the Emirates before thrashing Arsenal 5-1 at the Allianz Arena.
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Guardiola's remaining 22 meetings with Arsenal have all been as manager of Man City, where he was appointed in the summer of 2016, boasting a record of 16 wins, two draws and four defeats.
In the days of Arsene Wenger and, briefly, Unai Emery at Arsenal, Guardiola came up against the Gunners eight times as City boss across three different competitions, winning six, drawing one and losing just one.
Guardiola won his first Premier League game as Man City manager against Arsenal in December 2016 (2-1), but the Citizens were forced to play out a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture before losing 2-1 in the FA Cup semi-finals at Wembley.
A run of seven successive victories over Arsenal then followed for Man City and Guardiola, including a 3-0 triumph in the 2018 EFL Cup final as well as two 3-0 Premier League wins against interim boss Freddie Ljungberg and current head coach Mikel Arteta, who swapped his assistant role at the Etihad for the top job at the Emirates in December 2019.
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Pep Guardiola vs. Mikel Arteta
Played: 13
Guardiola wins: 9
Draws: 2*
Arteta wins: 2
*One draw resulted in Arsenal winning on penalties in 2023 Community Shield
With Liverpool legend Jurgen Klopp departing Anfield in the summer of 2023, the spotlight has shifted to a fresh Premier League managerial rivalry between Guardiola and Arteta, the master and his former apprentice, who have already experienced a number of memorable battles between one another.
Arteta took over an Arsenal side in a significant transitional phase at the end of 2019 and few will be surprised to learn that Guardiola's Man City side dominated this fixture with the Gunners in the early years of the former's Emirates reign.
Indeed, Guardiola won nine of his first 10 encounters with Arteta's Arsenal in all competitions between June 2020 and April 2023, with a 2-0 FA Cup semi-final defeat being the only blot on the Catalan's copybook during that impressive run.
Man City scored at least two or more goals in six of those victories and four or more three times, including a memorable 5-0 home triumph in the Premier League in August 2021 - the Citizens' biggest win over Arsenal and Arteta's heaviest defeat as a manager to date.
Arsenal have since come on leaps and bounds under Arteta and have established themselves as Man City's strongest challengers for the Premier League title, coming up agonisingly short in the last two seasons.
Man City did the double over Arsenal in the 2022-23 season - City's historic treble-winning campaign - winning 3-1 at the Emirates before cruising to an imperious 4-1 victory at the Etihad, but Guardiola's Citizens have since failed to win their last three meetings with the Gunners.
A 5-2 penalty-shootout defeat in the 2023 Community Shield (following a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes) was followed by a narrow 1-0 Premier League away defeat and a goalless stalemate on home soil in the most recent encounter between the two sides in March 2024.
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Oliver Thomas
