Danny Welbeck, the Mancunian, former Manchester United boy will look to strike down Manchester City with his new club Arsenal when the two big guns meet in a high-profile clash at the Emirates on Saturday.
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The big match is set for a 12.45 pm BST (7.45 am ET, 5.15 pm IST) start with live coverage on Star Sports 4 and Star Sports HD2 in India. The Premier League match can also be watched via live streaming online in India HERE. TV coverage in the UK will be on BT Sport 1, with the option to Live Stream HERE. Viewers in the UK can also listen to the match via radio on BBC Radio 5 Live or HERE. Catch the action in the US on TV on NBC Sports, while the game can also be Live Streamed online HERE.
Australia viewers can Live Stream the action HERE, while viewers in Canada can do the same HERE. Viewers in the Middle East and North Africa can watch the match via Live Streaming online HERE, while South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa viewers can do the same HERE.
Welbeck was Arsenal's big signing on transfer deadline day, with Wenger forced to scour the transfer market following a long-term injury to Olivier Giroud. While there is no doubting Welbeck's ability to play as the focal point of attacks, the only doubt remains whether the former Manchester United man can bang in the goals with consistency.
"Danny Welbeck is an ideal signing for us because he can play through the middle, which I think is his best position, but as well on the flanks," Wenger said.
"His qualities are his team attitude and his pace as well. When you analyse his game you think he has the qualities to play through the middle.
"He was at Man United, where he had many big stars, and he is a player who is very versatile so he had to make room sometimes for players to play through the middle. But if you analyse in an objective way his qualities, I think he has the perfect style to play through the middle."
Arsenal would probably have preferred to play Manchester City on any other time than 12.45 local time (5.15 IST), having suffered some massive defeats at that kickoff time last season.
However, Arsene Wenger will also know those performances, against the likes of Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, had little to do with the time. At the end of the day, Arsenal, just plain and simple, failed to show up against their Premier League rivals, with those results, in the end, costing them a real shot at the title.
Having scraped a draw against Everton at Goodison Park earlier this season, this will be Arsenal's first real title-rival test, and how they come out of it will act as a pointer towards whether Wenger's men can actually mount a sustained challenge for the Premier League crown this time around.
In their first three games so far, Arsenal have picked up one win and two draws, one against Everton and the other, a disappointing one, against Leicester City just before the international break.
"It is a good opportunity to show that we have improved on that front because a year before it was completely the opposite and last year it was like that," said Wenger.
"We have now got the opportunity to show that we have grown as a team, that we are more mature and ready for the fight. Let's do it.
"I don't think that this game is very important for us mathematically [just] because we dropped points away from home [at Everton and Leicester]. But it gives us credibility and confidence if we do well.
"It's a big game and for us it is a home game as well. We had a decent start in the Premier League but of course we dropped some points and we have a good opportunity at home to play against Manchester City and get the three points."
While Arsenal could only manage a 1-1 draw against Leicester prior to the international weekend, Manchester City suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of Stoke City. The defending champions were below par at the Etihad on that particular Saturday, and Manuel Pellegrini will know the importance of bouncing back with what would be a morale-boosting win against Arsenal.
City, though, showed their class in their first big game of the season against Liverpool a few weeks back, beating the Reds 3-1 at the Etihad. And it is that performance that Pellegrini and his team will look to replicate.
"It is a difficult game, a difficult fixture because we have a difficult week," said Pellegrini, who will then go on to face Bayern Munich in the Champions League in midweek, before hosting Chelsea next weekend. "We started better than I thought against Newcastle and Liverpool, with so many players out with just a few days to prepare those games.
"After that it was a surprise maybe to lose against Stoke but I don't think we played bad. Now we have this week with two difficult games in the Premier League and a difficult game in the Champions League."
Team news: Arsenal: Welbeck is expected to start up front on his debut for Arsenal, while Wenger will welcome back Mikel Arteta and Kieran Gibbs back into the lineup after injury layoffs. Mesut Ozil, who missed Germany's international games through injury, is also fit, but Theo Walcott is still a few weeks away from a much-awaited return.
The main worry is Aaron Ramsey, who turned his ankle on Wales duty. "The first news is not bad," Wenger said when asked about Ramsey's injury. "He will be assessed and he has a little chance to be available for Saturday. He had an ankle sprain but it's a minor one that's for sure."
Manchester City: Stevan Jovetic, who has started the season pretty well, is ruled out with a hamstring injury, while midfielder Fernando will also miss out after picking up a knock in the loss to Stoke City. Bacary Sagna will hope for a run-out against his former club, but it remains to be seen if Pellegrini will prefer the Frenchman for Pablo Zabaleta at right-back.
Expected lineups: Arsenal: Szczesny; Debuchy, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Arteta; Sanchez, Wilshere, Ramsey, Ozil; Welbeck.
Manchester City: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Demichelis, Kolarov; Nasri, Toure, Fernandinho, Silva; Aguero, Dzeko.
