The buildup for the visit of Manchester City to the Emirates on Sunday hasn't been dominated by the type of headlines the Gunners' fans were hoping for. By this point in the week, most expected or at least hoped a new signing would be on the verge of joining the club.

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However, the rumours in the English press -- whilst there have been plenty about Arsenal -- have been absent of concrete bids for any player. Behind the scenes, it's always possible that Arsene Wenger and Arsenal are working on an unexpected deal. Remember Eduardo back in 2007? There had been no murmurings at all and then suddenly a deal was confirmed. Hopefully, something similar will happen. Otherwise I'm struggling to grasp why Arsenal are waiting to dip into the January transfer market.

There was also the news that Olivier Giroud hasn't trained all week due to a knee injury -- he is 50:50 to make the squad. If the Frenchman misses out, allied with Gervinho being away at the African Cup of Nations, the Gunners would be left with just Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott and Podolski to start as the front three. Tomas Rosicky (who has surprisingly been overlooked recently) and Andrey Arshavin (rumoured to be leaving the club) would be the only options on the bench. The holes in the squad seem obvious.

As well as procrastinating in the transfer market, Arsenal have also been waiting for players to return from injury. Andre Santos' comeback won't excite many supporters, and whilst it's good to see Abou Diaby in an Arsenal shirt again, there's always the fear that he is one tackle, or one bursting run forward, away from breaking down again. Unfortunately, neither player can be overly relied upon.

Rather than transfers, most of the headlines about this match have been about ticket prices. The concept of paying at least £62 to watch an Arsenal home match this season isn't a new one for Gunners fans, having been charged that against Chelsea and Tottenham. To have away fans effectively boycotting the match due to the price does raise important issues for fans about the cost of following their team. However, when the ground can still be filled and the demand for tickets is there, all clubs, not just Arsenal, will be able to charge as much as they like. If Arsenal were seen to be investing money in the first-team squad, the animosity towards this issue wouldn't be as strong.

Despite being fairly negative so far for most of this article, Arsenal have a genuine chance of getting a result against City on Sunday. The slightly random, inconsistent nature of Arsenal's season means that a sublime performance could be as likely as a seriously lackadaisical one. Whilst defensively there were clear issues at Swansea last weekend, the more buccaneering attacking in the second half hopefully will build some momentum for this Sunday. Arsenal certainly will need momentum to be swinging in their favour with a difficult run of fixtures for the rest of the month.

It's worth remembering that Arsenal were unlucky not to win at the Etihad earlier in the season, and a similar performance at the Emirates could bring a good result. City's defence hasn't been water-tight this season, so I doubt the match will be as cagey as previous games. Should Manchester United beat Liverpool earlier in the day, the onus will be on City to push to win the match, and that will play into Arsenal's hands on the counter-attack. Should Giroud not make it, Arsenal will be reliant on the pace of Walcott down the middle - a more open game would suit him down to the ground.

The match is an exciting prospect, whether you think it's worth paying £62 to watch or not. It will be a real test to see if Arsene Wenger's waiting game over injuries and signings is the right approach. Should Arsenal not get a positive result, the demand for change will only increase, both in the squad and in ticket prices.

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