Mikel Arteta and Arsenal will on Wednesday night play guests at the Etihad stadium in a decisive Premier League clash against title rivals Manchester City.

Meanwhile, National Daily has learnt from the claim by Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta that midfielder Granit Xhaka remains a doubt for the side’s top of the table clash against Pep Guardiola’s side.

The Switzerland ace missed Friday’s 3-3 draw with Southampton through illness.

Xhaka is yet to return to training following his bout of sickness.

The midfielder’s been in fine form this season and he was missed on Friday as Arsenal dropped points in the third consecutive match.

Xhaka remains a major doubt for Arsenal’s crucial clash at the Etihad

Arsenal are already without William Saliba and can ill-afford to lose Xhaka again, given he’s one of the more experienced players in the starting XI.

But, speaking ahead of tomorrow’s game, Arteta said Xhaka remains doubtful.

‘Yeah Granit has been out and hopefully he will be able to train today,’ said Arteta.

‘But he’s still a doubt.

‘The rest are okay.’

Arsenal had hoped Saliba would return for the trip to the Etihad but there are fears he could miss the remainder of the season.

While Arteta refused to confirm that was the case, he was downbeat about Saliba returning in the short-term.

‘There’s not been real improvement on him. No news unfortunately. We are still waiting,’ said Arteta.

‘We are still hopeful but obviously, it’s another week that has gone by and he hasn’t been able to train with the team.’