Bukayo Saka's Man City mental block: Arsenal star can end world-class debate by shining at the Etihad

Saka has faced City 10 times. Only on one occasion has he come out on the winning side, and that was on penalties in the meaningless Community Shield at the start of the current campaign - and even then only after Arsenal had levelled in the 11th minute of stoppage-time with a weak shot from Leandro Trossard that took a fortuitous deflection off Manuel Akanji.

Saka could claim an assist for that goal but, in truth, he had only played a simple pass to the Belgian wide on the left-hand side of the area. The reality is that he has never created a goal in his nine competitive outings against City - which includes a 5-0 drubbing at the Etihad in August 2021 and only goes to underline just how much one of the most effective wingers in the Premier League has struggled against Pep Guardiola's side.

He does have a couple of goals, at least. The first was a smart finish at the Emirates on New Year's Day 2022 that ended Arsenal's run of six games without a goal against City, who still went on to win the game. The second was a penalty in the 3-1 home defeat last February that signalled an irreversible shift in power in last season's title race. Indeed, by the time Arsenal travelled to Manchester for the return clash just over two months later, the writing was on the wall.

City didn't just beat Arsenal, though, they bullied them, inflicting serious psychological damage on the young Gunners in a 4-1 win that effectively sealed a third consecutive title. Saka, the PFA's Young Player of the Year, barely got a look-in.

The fear obviously is that it will be a similar story this weekend.

Arsenal will obviously arrive at the Etihad in a very different state of mind to last April. By that stage, the wheels were well and truly coming off, with the Gunners having dropped six points in their previous three games by drawing with Liverpool, West Ham and Southampton, even throwing away two-goal leads in the first two fixtures. Therefore, defeat felt depressingly inevitable against a City side that had once again hit top form at the business end of the season.

This time around, Arsenal are flying, having gone top of the table thanks to eight consecutive league wins since the turn of the year. Saka has been unsurprisingly key. After just one goal in four months, he struck seven times in five games between January 30 and February 24. And yet doubts remain.

For all of Saka's understandable excitement after the Porto game, there's no getting away from the fact that both he and Arsenal performed poorly against the Portuguese side - and in both legs too.

Arsenal legend and TNT Sports pundit Martin Keown said that the England international "wasn't really himself" in the 1-0 loss at the Dragao, "giving the ball away" constantly, while even Saka admitted himself that he had not played well in the second leg at the Emirates.

In hindsight, he may well have been hampered by the minor muscular problem that prevented him from reporting for England duty during the international break, and the word is that he will be fit to play this weekend. The thing is, though, Arsenal will need him at 100 percent if they are to win a league game at the Etihad for the first time in nine years.

The Gunners did manage to beat City without Saka at the Emirates during the early stages of the season - which secured the north Londoners a first league win over their bogey team since December 2015, while at the same time bringing an end to Arteta's awful run of seven consecutive losses to former mentor Guardiola.

It was a victory founded upon defensive discipline, with Arsenal completely nullifying the threat posed by Erling Haaland, who didn't get a single sight of goal, and restricting City to just four shots - the fewest a Guardiola-coached side had managed in a top-flight game since 2010.

However, it's well worth remembering that neither Kevin De Bruyne nor Rodri were playing that day. City will be a very different proposition with the world-class midfield duo back in the starting line-up. In that sense, this really is the ultimate test for Arsenal - and Saka.

Rio Ferdinand recently caused controversy by claiming that the winger does "not yet" rank among the game's elite. "Listen, I think Saka's been unreal," the former Manchester United defender said. "I actually think he needs a bit of a rest, after so many games for a young kid. But he hasn't done it in the Champions League, has he? I'm talking in the nitty-gritty stages. Saka's top, don't get me wrong. He's just not world-class yet."

When asked about Ferdinand's comment, a smiling Saka said, "No comment." He'll clearly let his feet do the talking for him and it was telling that after the second leg against Porto, he said that reaching the quarter-finals meant so much to him personally because "these are the games that I play football for, that I dream of". And the reality is that the game's very best players are judged by how they perform in the Champions League.

However, what team-mate Declan Rice has called a "potential title-decider" at the Etihad offers Saka just as grand a stage on which to showcase his world-class credentials. City know how good Saka can be. They wanted to sign him in 2022, and Guardiola even told the brilliant Bernardo Silva to try man-mark him in last February's meeting at the Emirates.

However, trips to the Etihad have only ever ended in defeat for Saka. If Arsenal are to win the league, that has to change on Sunday. Another beating is not an option. It's time for Arsenal and Saka to stand up to City in their own backyard.