Arsenal vs Manchester City â€" a clash between two of the top favourites for the English Premier League title. Perfect time then to make a "we are the team to beat this season," statement.
Both Arsenal and Manchester City saw Leicester City increase their lead at the top after another impressive win, this time over Everton. With Arsenal and Manchester City now trailing Leicester by five and six points respectively, neither team will want to end up on the losing side at the Emirates on Monday.
While this is a match that will not decide the Premier League title â€" not even close â€" what cannot be denied is the impact it could have as the season nears its halfway point. Beat one of your major contenders, and the confidence the win will give you could be enough to take you all the way through to the title in this any-team-can-beat-any-side season.
The onus will be on Arsenal, being the home team, to go for the win, and it will be interesting to see if Wenger goes with the same tactics that won his side the game so memorably at the Etihad last season. That match was all about soaking up the pressure for Arsenal and hitting Manchester City on the counter-attack with devastating effect.
Arsenal's quick attackers out wide and Mesut Ozil's ability to pick a pass when, where and how he wants does make Wenger's men a great counter-attacking team, but with this match being at home, there is a chance that Arsenal will have more of the ball.
Indeed, it is quite possible that City will sit back a little and allow Arsenal to keep possession in their own half before going for the press and hitting that counter-attack button themselves.
The key for Arsenal, in particular, will be doing the right things, making the right decisions and finding the right passes in the final third. Do that and then make sure you put your chances away â€" the opening goal in big matches is always so crucial -- Arsenal will have a good chance of coming from the Emirates with a positive result.
City, though, will be thinking along the same lines as well, and the key to this matchup will be the defence. The team that defends better, will have a much better chance of coming away with all three points, because both sides are studded with quality attacking stars capable of creating magic in the blink of an eye.
"It is a massive game," Wenger said. "When we play at home you want to win because we are ambitious and we feel we have the chance to come out in a strong position after Christmas.
"It will be a very tight game because if you look at the numbers since the start of the season, offensively and defensively the numbers are very close.
"Manchester City has huge individual potential with David Silva and Sergio Aguero coming back and so we will need a top, top-level team performance."
Where to Watch Live
Get the final score and report HERE
Watch the highlights of the match HERE
Live TV coverage of the English Premier League match in India will be on Star Sports 4 and Star Sports HD4, while all the Premier League action can be watched via live streaming online on Starsports.com and Hotstar.
Sky Sports 1 will broadcast the Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester City live in the UK, while the action between Crystal Palace and Everton can also be live streamed online on Watch Sky Sports.
Watch the EPL game live in the US on NBCSN, with the live stream option on NBC Sports Live Extra. Canada viewers can watch Arsenal vs Manchester City live on TSN4, with the live stream option on TSN TV.
Australia viewers can catch the EPL action live on Fox Sports, while the online live streaming options are on Foxtel Play and Fox Sports EPL On Demand. Viewers in the Middle East and North Africa can watch the EPL match live on Bein Sports Arabia and Bein Sports Connect.
