Gael Clichy believes there will be one player who will make the difference when Arsenal and Manchester City meet at the Emirates on Sunday.
Following back-to-losses to Newcastle United and Wolverhampton Wanderers, City returned to winning ways on Wednesday night with a 3-1 win over RB Leipzing in the UEFA Champions League.
This win would have done the world of good for the morale surrounding Pep Guardiola's squad, and now they will look to make an early statement in the Premier League title race when they take on last season's runners-up.
The Gunners already have one win over City this season after beating them in this season's Community Shield game, and with City midfielder Rodri suspended, Arsenal fans will feel that they have a good chance of beating the defending champions and go top of the table.
Clichy however expects City to cope without Rodri and instead expects the performance of a certain striker to be the difference against Arsenal this weekend.
"It's too early in the season for Arsenal vs Man City to be a crucial game because there will still be points to be dropped and won for the next few months. Man City and Arsenal have been the best two teams in the Premier League for the last 20 months, but this fixture was always a game that people thought Arsenal would struggle in because of the experience of the squad," Clichy told Genting Casino.
"After coming up short last season, Arsenal will want to show the fans in the Emirates that they can match Man City. From a Manchester City perspective, I'm not worried about Rodri being out because that midfield has so much quality. It will be an amazing game with a very high intensity. Mikel Arteta is a copy of Pep Guardiola, you can see he's a mini-version of him in his tactics, on the touchline and in his press conferences.
"I do think Manchester City will win the game, they have so much quality and still have Erling Haaland, who complicates how to defend against the whole team when he's so dangerous.
"All Man City need to do is get the ball in the air to Haaland and he can hurt Arsenal."