Arsenal, who at the time were a consistent challenger for all competitions over a number of seasons, would lose key important players to City who would eventually become the more dominant of the two teams.

Arsenal then-manager Arsène Wenger had always been a big critic of City's transfer policy and financial strategy; the rivalry gained traction following the moves of the likes of Emmanuel Adebayor and Samir Nasri.

Adebayor infamously ran the full length of the pitch to celebrate in front of Arsenal fans when he scored in a 4–2 win during the 2009–10 season.

Although the two clubs share rivalry on the field, Arteta and City coach Pep Guardiola count each other as very close friends, having played and worked together in the past.

[9][10][11] During the summer of 2009, City, who had finished 10th in the previous season (six places behind Arsenal in 4th), would move to sign Gunners pair Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Touré.

Adebayor had been the Gunners' second-highest goal scorer in the previous season, where Toure was the club's vice-captain and a former Premier League winner who had amassed 326 appearances across all competitions.

[13] During the game he had caused controversy with a late tackle on Cesc Fàbregas and flicking a boot in the face of Robin van Persie.

Adebayor received a yellow card and would later apologise for "losing his head" after what he described as two hours of abuse from Arsenal fans: "I was in my spiritual zone.

[16][17] Wenger would also publicly criticise City's sponsorship deal with Etihad Airways, accusing the club of bending UEFA's fair play rules.

[18] In the summer of 2011, City added two more of Arsenal's more important players, the signing of long-standing left-back Gaël Clichy as well as Samir Nasri, who had made the PFA Team of the Year and had scored 15 goals from midfield in the previous season.

[21] Due to criticism, Nasri protested that his move to City was about winning titles and not money, before going on to criticise Arsenal's transfer policy.

City manager Manuel Pellegrini said he was surprised by Wenger's outburst given Lampard was a free transfer having been released by Chelsea.

[34] In 2019, Guardiola's former City assistant manager Mikel Arteta returned to Arsenal as their new manager, replacing Unai Emery who had been sacked, although by the end of the 2021–22 season City had extended their unbeaten run against Arsenal in the League to 13 games, with Guardiola losing his first game to Arteta in a 2–0 FA Cup defeat on 18 July 2020.

[35] In the summer of 2022, City agreed to the sale of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko to Arsenal with both players reuniting with Arteta.

[37] Arsenal carved out a lead in the Premier League and by the time the two teams met in February 2023 they led City by three points.

Following victory in the 2023 UEFA Champions League final, City headed into the game as treble winners and led 1–0 following a late strike from Cole Palmer, however Leandro Trossard's heavily deflected shot cannoned off Manuel Akanji to equalise in the 11th of 13 minutes of added on time sent the game to a penalty shootout, in which the Gunners would win 4–1.

[43][44] On 8 October 2023, Arsenal ended their 12-game losing streak when Gabriel Martinelli's 86th-minute deflected shot wrong-footed Ederson to give the Gunners a 1–0 win, the club's first in the Premier League since December 2015.

In joining City, he turned down the opportunity to remain at Arsenal as part of Arsène Wenger's coaching staff having been offered the chance to run the clubs academy.

Cup finals are typically played at a neutral location such as the England national football team home stadium (Wembley).