Pep Guardiola has given Mikel Arteta a hint of how Man City could line up against Arsenal

Manchester City’s players were hard at work in training ahead of their Premier League fixture against Arsenal, with Pep Guardiola fielding two XIs

Manchester City have stepped up preparations in training ahead of the 2019/20 Premier League season restarting.

Pep Guardiola’s side face Arsenal at the Etihad on June 17, in their re-arranged fixture which was postponed in March after the coronavirus outbreak.

City players returned to training last week in small groups while observing social distancing guidelines, after clubs voted to allow larger groups and full-contact training to resume.

And ahead of their clash against Arsenal, City have held practice matches as the players begin to build up their match fitness again.

As reported by the MEN, clips posted by the Premier League champions showed that Guardiola arranged a training match between his players, with the squad split into two.

In the orange team was: Ederson, Kyle Walker, Nicolas Otamendi, Fernandinho, Aleks Zinchenko, Tommy Doyle, Kevin De Bruyne, David Silva, Felix Nmecha, Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero.

Playing in white was: Scott Carson, Taylor Harwood-Bellis, Eric Garcia, Aymeric Laporte, Benjamin Mendy, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden, Riyad Mahrez, Leroy Sane, Gabriel Jesus.

Some players were not present, such as Claudio Bravo, Joao Cancelo, John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan.

However, they could have been training elsewhere or replaced by the likes of Carson, Harwood-Bellis, Garcia and Doyle towards the end of the game.

Logic dictates that the majority of the orange team could make up the bulk of City’s starting XI against Arsenal, with the back five in particular looking settled. Laporte could be preferred to Otamendi, but the rest have been regular starters under Guardiola before the season was halted.

In midfield, De Bruyne and Silva are likely to be paired against the Gunners, with the holding role perhaps up for grabs between Rodri and Gundogan.

Up front, Aguero and Sterling are strong contenders to start, whilst Nmecha could be replaced by Mahrez or the fit-again Sane.

Gabriel Jesus is also an option to play in a wider position, but it remains to be seen what Guardiola decides to do as he faces his former assistant Mikel Arteta for the first time.