Arsenal v Manchester City team news: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain dropped to the bench as Lukas Podolski given chance against unchanged City

Arsenal must beat City if they are to have any hopes of challenging for the Premier League title

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (Getty Images)

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was dropped to the bench after Arsene Wenger decided to start with Lukas Podolski for Arsenal’s must-win Premier League match against Manchester City.

Wenger made just one change, choosing to start with the German forward instead of Oxlade-Chamberlain, who was the centre of the handball incident in last week’s 6-0 defeat to Chelsea that saw Kieran Gibbs wrongly sent off.

City remained unchanged from their midweek 3-0 Manchester derby victory over bitter rivals Manchester United, meaning that Edin Dzeko was handed another chance to impress after his double against the Red Devils.

The Gunners’ January signing Kim Kallstrom was again named on the bench, meaning the Swedish international continues his wait for a first start in the Arsenal shirt, having made his debut earlier in the week when he came off the bench in the 2-2 draw with Swansea.

Line-ups:

Arsenal: Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Gibbs, Arteta, Rosicky, Flamini, Cazorla, Podolski, Giroud.

Subs: Fabianski, Bellerin, Jenkinson, Kallstrom, Gnabry, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Sanogo

Manchester City: Hart, Zabaleta, Kompany (C), Demichelis, Clichy, Fernandinho, Toure, Navas, Silva, Nasri, Dzeko.

Subs:Pantilimon, Kolarov, Lescott, Milner, Javi García, Negredo, Jovetic