England Premier League
Wednesday 15th February 2023
Kick off at 7:30pm GMT
Venue: Emirates Stadium
Match Preview:
Is this the moment that defines Arsenal's season as they finally get to play Manchester City in the league. Arsenal have been solid and brilliant in this campaign but they have wobbled in their last two games and this may well let in the champions.
Arsenal had a 5 point gap and that could be reduced to nothing if City can win here on Wednesday evening. Although it’s important to remember that Mikel Arteta’s side do have a game in hand. For Arsenal though they were defeated 1-0 away to struggling Everton last week and this past weekend they could only draw 1-1 at home to Brentford. In fairness VAR made a dreadful error and Brentford’s equaliser should have never counted but at the same time Arsenal found it a struggle to see off the Bees dropping rare points at home in the process.
Manchester City have plenty of off the field problems with recent charges thrown down at them by the FA but the players reacted well to this at the weekend as they eased to a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa. City have traditionally started games slowly and that has come back to haunt them this season although they were 3-0 up by half time against Villa. It is questionable if Jack Grealish dived for the penalty which made it 3-0 but that is for another discussion. The bottom line is that City were under pressure to produce and get the 3 points against Villa and they overcame that hurdle.
The worry for Pep Guardiola is that while his team has won 17 points from 30 away from home that doesn’t feel good enough for a club like City. It equates to winning 50% of games on the road but at the same time they come into this one having lost their last two away from home. Those defeats came against Manchester United and Tottenham and especially against Tottenham, City looked toothless. They will now be facing Tottenham’s rivals and a better side, and this will be a huge test for them.
Team News:
Arsenal: Emile Smith-Rowe looks set to miss out again with fitness issues, Gabriel Jesus won’t return until the end of the month as he recovers from his knee injury. Reiss Nelson has fitness issues and looks like he will miss this game also.
Manchester City: Erling Haaland has a slight knock but is expected to play. John Stone is still sidelined by his hamstring and is not due back until the end of the month.
Arsenal vs Man City Head to Head:
From the last 14 meetings Manchester City have won 13 and Arsenal just 1, although that was an FA Cup game and Arsenal haven’t beaten City in the league since 2015.
Last season this fixture finished 2-1 to Manchester City.
The teams last played each other last month in the FA Cup which Manchester City won 1-0.
There is a 60% chance to see over 2.5 goals.
Arsenal vs Man City Prediction:
We know how strong Arsenal can be and their level hasn’t been up to standards for the past week, but it is only one week of football that we can really criticise and yet here we are with a chance that the Gunners could blow their title chances. This is how strong Manchester City are and even though Guardiola’s side have not been vintage they can still find a way to win games.
Manchester City will need to find all of their experience here as they cannot afford to lose this one as the gap would increase to six points and Arsenal would have a game in hand. City’s record over Arsenal for the past decade has been very one sided and Erling Haaland has been a tad quiet by his standards goal wise and we think the champions may be able to find the perfect balance and win this game. Technically there won’t be much between the sides but this could well come down to psychological games and that burning question are Arsenal really ready to make that mental jump from a top four side to winning the league. It seems a stretch at least this season and City has the tools to unlock them one would think.
Arsenal vs Man City Betting Tips:
Asian handicap (0.0 Manchester City) at 1.71
First goalscorer: Erling Haaland at 4.00
Anytime goalscorer: Riyad Mahrez at 3.75
Half Time Correct Score: 1-0 to Manchester City at 4.00
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