A game that we have been starved of ever since Arsenal emerged as a contender for the Premier League title. Arsenal lost the FA Cup tie against Manchester City earlier this year, but the upcoming fixture is ultimately the biggest challenge to their lead at the top.
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ARSENAL
PREMIER LEAGUE FORM: D – L – W – W – D
After an almost perfect start to the season, only dropping points at Old Trafford and against Southampton, the Gunners find themselves under pressure as they failed to win three of the last five Premier League matches. This form in previous title races would mean catastrophe, but this year, City are not showing signs of relentless winning as they did in previous years.
The second loss for Mikel Arteta came against a resolute Everton side who perfected Sean Dyche’s game plan in a matter of days – close the spaces and hit on transitions. Against Brentford, we saw that there is another way of causing trouble for Arsenal, and that was to be direct and play expansive football, a great characteristic of Thomas Frank’s side.
A lot of Arsenal fans will feel let down by the officials in recent games, as despite VAR, the appropriate decisions were not taken. The upcoming game is a very crucial one for Arsenal, both in terms of points and mentally; should they win the game, it would give them confidence that they can actually go on to win the title. Mikel Arteta’s team is competing for the Premier League title for the first time, whereas this situation is all too familiar to Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City squad.
Playing at home always helps in these situations, and Arsenal will look to make that count; we are pricing a 2-1 win for Mikel Arteta at 9/1 (10.00) and Bukayo Saka to score anytime during the match at 9/4 (3.25). A first-half clean sheet for Arsenal is valued at 7/9 (1.77).
MANCHESTER CITY
PREMIER LEAGUE FORM: W – L – W – W – L
Manchester City are slowly catching onto Arsenal as the pressure increases on both sets of squads, week after week. This fixture will surely be one of great energy, debate and good football, as both sides are extremely capable. Against Aston Villa, Pep rallied his troops fielding some of his trusted players to do the job and secure the win early doors, which they did. One factor to take from the game was that they still conceded a goal, despite their dominance in the game.
Erling Haaland was taken off during half-time as he got a knock, which we assume is a precaution not to make things worse, but we will see how that story unfolds later in the week. After the loss to Spurs, Man City had to bounce back, as in the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, they looked flat and lacked ideas going forward. We all know what a great squad they are, and they will need to be at their best to go to the Emirates Stadium and get three points.
Pep Guardiola will be tested as he knows what a great coach and tactician Mikel Arteta is, so apart from the battle on the pitch, another battle will ensue on the touchline. A Manchester City first-half win is priced at 2/1 (3.00), with a correct score of 2-2 at 11/1 (12.00). Riyad Mahrez is valued at 2/1 (3.00) to score anytime during the match.
Match Odds: Arsenal are at 39/20 (2.95) to win, whilst Manchester City are at 7/5 (2.40), and a draw coming in at 8/3 (3.65).
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*Odds subject to change. Odds correct at time of publishing