[Confirmed lineup] Arsenal v Man City: Özil starts, but no Alexis Sanchez

The teams have been announced for our Monday night clash with Manchester City, and it’s an unchanged lineup as far as Arsenal are concerned. There’s no Alexis Sanchez unfortunately, but hopefully he’ll be fully fit and rearing to go for our post Christmas fixtures.

Petr Cech continues in goal, with David Ospina thankfully getting nowhere near the first team at the moment. The Czech international has been key to our success this season, and is proving an unbelievable signing.

Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal continue at full-back, with both players showing their reliability recently. They start either side of Arsene Wenger’s favoured centre-back pairing, Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker keeping Gabriel Paulista confined to the bench.

Mathieu Flamini starts in midfield in the absence of Francis Coquelin, and the Frenchman’s role tonight could decide this fixture. He’s yet to be really tested since replacing his younger compatriot, but he’s bound to be up against it vs City.

Similarly, Aaron Ramsey starts centrally with no Santi Cazorla, and could prove equally key against Manuel Pellegrini’s side. He will need to be disciplined when necessary, but we obviously won’t want to sacrifice the forward momentum he gives us.

Man of the moment Mesut Özil is obviously included, and will hopefully be able to run the game once again. He’s been so important to our success this season, and these are the games where we need him most.

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Joel Campbell and Theo Walcott retain their places on the flanks, with Alexis Sanchez still unavailable. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain remains on the bench, but will be confident of making an appearance at some point.

Olivier Giroud will be hoping to continue his fine goalscoring form in this massive fixture, continuing to prove his doubters wrong.

Here is your #Arsenal team for #AFCvMCFC pic.twitter.com/8fYuAYc5qz
— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) December 21, 2015

The Man City team is as follows:

City XI: Hart, Sagna, Otamendi, Mangala, Kolarov, Fernandinho, Toure (C), Delph, De Bruyne, Silva, Aguero #arsenalvcity #mcfc
— Manchester City FC (@MCFC) December 21, 2015

Sergio Aguero returns to the starting XI, which is obviously a bit of a blow. He’s unquestionably one of the best strikers in the world, and hopefully he’ll be lacking a bit of match fitness.

Fabian Delph replaces Raheem Sterling in a rather strange move, and hopefully we’ll be able to exploit the former Aston Villa man.

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We’re in excellent form at the moment, and should no longer fear anyone in the Premier League. We need to beat City if we want to keep the pressure up on Leicester City at the top of the table, so let’s do exactly that.