Manchester City and Arsenal to hold breath as national team manager confirms triple-start for duo on Tuesday evening

Premier League title competitors Manchester City and Arsenal are likely to watch one contest with held breath on Tuesday evening ahead of their clash this weekend.

The ongoing international break is heading into it’s second round of fixtures, with Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff already feeling the effects of national team duties through a number of fitness concerns.

The most notable of the problems emerged over the course of the weekend, as Kyle Walker was withdrawn from action against Brazil at Wembley Stadium, with Manchester City’s captain sustaining a suspected hamstring problem.

With Walker subsequently withdrawn from the England set-up, and replaced by City teammate Rico Lewis, news emerged from Portugal’s camp concerning Matheus Nunes and a knock to his foot, although the issue is understood to be minor at this stage.

While Manchester City will be hoping that is the end of the problems sustained over this ongoing two-week period, new confirmation from the Norway set-up will likely leave themselves and title rivals Arsenal holding their breath.

As confirmed by TV2 reporter Arilas Ould-Saada, Arsenal captain Martin Ødegaard, alongside Manchester City duo Erling Haaland and Oscar Bobb, will start for Norway in Tuesday evening’s international friendly against Slovakia.

The contest comes just five days before City and Arsenal go head-to-head in the Premier League, as national team coach Ståle Solbakken explained, “I’ve spoken to Martin (Ødegaard) and Erling (Haaland). They both really want to play this game. We should be happy.”

For Pep Guardiola and Manchester City, the meeting with Arsenal this weekend marks the start of a mammoth period for the club, as they embark on a number of high-profile fixtures that make up a potentially decisive run of games in the space of four weeks.

The clash with Mikel Arteta’s squad will be followed by a Premier League double-header against Aston Villa and Crystal Palace – two teams who have already taken points from them earlier on this season.

April will also see the FA Cup semi-final come upon Manchester City, with Chelsea awaiting in the showpiece Wembley last-four tie, while Real Madrid are the club’s opponents in the quarter-final stage of the UEFA Champions League.