Pep Guardiola admits Arsenal won the lottery by signing Declan Rice from West Ham in the summer.
The Gunners broke their transfer record by agreeing to pay their London rivals £105million for the England international.
City provided Arsenal with competition for the services of the 25-year-old after Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United left the race.
Rice has since gone on to more than justify his fee with a series of outstanding displays at the heart of Arsenal’s engine room and played a key role in their pursuit of a first Premier League title in 20 years.
Facing tough competition from Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne and Bernardo Silva on Sunday, Rice will face arguably the toughest test of his Arsenal career to date when Mikel Arteta’s side travel to the Etihad Stadium on Sunday.
Guardiola, however, had only positive things to say about a player he wanted himself and one he believes would make it into any team in the English top flight.
Talking before Sunday’s meeting, Gaurdiola was asked about City’s failure to sign Rice and said: ‘I think all the teams in the Premier League would have [wanted to] sign Declan Rice.’
Rice, himself, is under no illusions about the size of the task his side faces, especially given the tough experience Arsenal had in the same fixture last season when their title hopes disappeared after a 4-1 defeat.
‘We have to go to the Etihad, which is going to be really tough, but if you want to overcome the negative label of Arsenal, you have to go there and win,’ said Rice.
‘We have to show that toughness and strength to prove we can be one of the best teams. There’s no doubt that City are the best team in the world at the moment, but we have full confidence and belief as a group, and the manager, that we can get a result.’
He added: ‘I have obviously been in high-pressure situations this season in games where, if we hadn’t won we would be slipping away from the teams at the top,” said the midfielder.
‘You feel that pressure before the games, you know in your mind that you have to go out there and do everything you can to win and get three points.
‘I really thrive off those moments, so hopefully we can keep putting ourselves in big-pressure games. That is where you learn the most about yourself, and obviously as a team as well.’
