Arsenal face the unenviable task of inflicting Manchester City’s first Premier League defeat of the season when they lock horns at the Etihad this afternoon.
Pep Guardiola’s side sit top of the table with nine wins from their opening ten matches, with many suggesting they could yet finish the campaign unbeaten in the league.
That would see them replicate the achievements of Arsenal’s squad of 2003-04 season.
But how do they match up against the current crop of Gunners?
So ahead of this weekend’s game, Standard Sport’s James Benge compiled a combined XI from this season’s squads…
GK: Petr Cech
Come back in a few months and this may have changed but for now Petr Cech’s body of Premier League work means he just shades Ederson for the number one spot. His issues with penalties and down to his right are well documented, but so is his top flight record 194 clean sheets. The 35-year-old has his off days but when on song he is nigh-on unbeatable.
CB: Laurent Koscielny
Seven years on from joining Arsenal for £10million Koscielny must go down as one of Arsene Wenger’s most astute defenders. Though at 32 and with dodgy Achilles his pace is beginning to desert him the France international still has the nous to snuff out any attack that comes his way.
CB: John Stones
This season Stones has fulfilled the promise that placed him in a tug of war between City and Chelsea in the summer of 2015. Ten games into the Premier League season and Stones has made no errors leading to goals, kept five clean sheets and established himself as a metronome in possession.
CB: Nacho Monreal
As a left back Monreal was Arsenal’s Mr Reliable, never the one to turn a game but never the one to cost the Gunners points. Since his smooth transition to the back three all that has changed for Arsene Wenger’s own Cesar Azpilicueta. Two goals is as many as he has ever got in an English season but he has made a similarly crucial impact at the other end, where he always seems to be the last line of defence.
RWB: Kyle Walker
Last season saw Walker overtake a struggling Hector Bellerin to become the Premier League’s best right-back and his £50million move to Manchester has not slowed his progress. After seven games Walker has already registered as many assists (three) as he did in 2015-16 and under Pep Guardiola’s he will never be short of chances to make the difference in advanced areas.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne
What more is there to be said about the best player in the Premier League? Having dropped deeper in Pep Guardiola’s system this season De Bruyne is now setting the agenda in games he might once have flitted in and out of. Like Mesut Ozil he seems to prefer assists to goals but unlike the German he can always be relied on to deliver either when it counts.
CM: David Silva
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It would be fair to say this midfield duo won’t be winning many tackles, but the opposition will have to get the ball of them first. Since his arrival in 2010 he has always been among the league’s best players to watch but this year might be his best yet, with the Spaniard tied with De Bruyne on six at the top of the assist charts.
LWB: Sead Kolasinac
A cult figure at the Emirates the moment fans laid eyes on his hulking frame, Kolasinac may just be the best piece of business an English club has done this summer. A free signing from Schalke, the 24-year-old immediately settled into the hustle and bustle of the Premier League, where his muscularity is enough to hold down the left flank almost single-handedly.
RW: Raheem Sterling
Critics of Sterling always pointed to his lack of end product but can do so no more. No City player can match his tally of 10 goals in all competitions, with Pep Guardiola crediting former Arsenal captain and City assistant Mikel Arteta with the England international’s new-found focus in front of goal.
LW: Leroy Sane
It may be premature to ditch Alexis Sanchez from a combined XI but the numbers suggest Sane is streaking ahead of his Premier League contemporaries. Where Sanchez has two goals and three assists in nine games Sane has eight and seven in 16.
Sane says he is having “so much fun” in Guardiola’s side and perhaps that is the difference between him and a frustrated Sanchez, who at times looks like he wants to be anywhere else but the Emirates.
ST: Gabriel Jesus
Any player who can overhaul Sergio Aguero as City’s top striker immediately ranks among the Premier League’s best and Jesus has vindicated Guardiola’s decision to frequently sideline the Citizens record goalscorer. The 20-year-old already has everything a top level forward needs, fitting effortlessly into the league leader’s entrancing build-up play before invariably turning up to add the finishing touch.