LONDON -- Arsene Wenger hopes his first Premier League meeting with Pep Guardiola will live up to expectations of being "something special."
Wenger's Arsenal side travel to Guardiola's Manchester City on Sunday in a crucial clash between two title contenders, which also pits two of the game's highest-profile managers against each other.
Wenger and Guardiola both subscribe to a similar philosophy based on attack-minded, possession-based football, which makes any meeting between them a highly anticipated affair.
"What you want from the top-level games is that it responds to the level of expectation quality-wise. I hope that both teams achieve that," Wenger said at his news conference on Friday. "I think it will happen because I'm a positive man and I always expect big games to be something special. I expect a special performance and for it to be special for people who love football."
Guardiola has mostly got the better of Wenger while at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, but will be without the suspended Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho on Sunday, along with injured midfielder Ilkay Gundogan. Arsenal, though, are still without the injured trio of Aaron Ramsey, Santi Cazorla and Shkodran Mustafi.
"I don't deny that Sergio Aguero is an important player for them but we also have important players who are not there. It is part of the season," Wenger said. "We have Cazorla who has just had surgery, Ramsey is not there. We have plenty of people out. That is part of it. I cannot feel too sorry about that. It is part of the season."
Wenger said Ramsey should be back in the squad for the Boxing Day game against West Brom, while Danny Welbeck is just one week away from returning to full training after having knee surgery in May.
However, Welbeck will still need time to return to full match fitness, Wenger added.
Arsenal are only one point ahead of City after losing 2-1 to Everton on Tuesday, a game where they failed to protect a 1-0 lead and were criticised for not coping with the hosts' physical style of play.
However, Wenger said his side are used to facing aggressive teams and are prepared for more of the same from City -- even though Guardiola's men may be careful after Aguero and Fernandinho were both sent off in the final minutes of their 3-1 loss to Chelsea.
"We expect the team that plays against us to be fully committed and I must say that we are not often disappointed," Wenger said. "I expect this game to be of a high intensity physically, but you want it to be fair and the referee's rules to be respected.
"[The key to winning] is to defend well together and not be timid every time you get the ball and have a go and try to attack, because that's part of our philosophy. Overall that's what you have to do but you have not to forget as well that City's team is very strong going forward, maybe even more now with Guardiola, so we certainly have to focus to defend well."