Manchester City v Arsenal assessed: Can Mikel Arteta get the better of Pep Guardiola

Arsenals ascendency has come at a fascinating juncture in Pep Guardiolas project, the mentee creating his own version of Manchester City right at the moment the mentor moves away from the principles he used to transform the Premier League.

Rarely do we see the student become the master.

Never is it this neatly laid out before us, one coming up as the other comes down; Mikel Arteta even pinching a couple of Guardiolas players to tip the balance away from the Etihad and towards the Emirates.

But the story of this new rivalry, of the blockbuster battle between father and son, has not been written yet.

Only after their first meeting of the season in Fridays FA Cup fourth round will we have the evidence or the vocabulary to frame how their visions compete and how they are mirrored.

The era of Jurgen Klopp versus Guardiola was defined by their head-to-heads, the differences between the formers compulsive forward drive and the latters measured possession being more pronounced, more affected, when they faced each other than throughout much of the 38-game season.