England Premier League
Wednesday 26th April 2023
Kick off at 8pm BST
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Match Preview:
It’s the big one! The game that could tell us where the Premier League title is heading and every football fan, not just in England, is going to be glued to this game. The champions Manchester City will be the odds on favourites to win the game and close the gap on the Gunners and that stands to reason when you see their home form. So far Pep Guardiola’s side have lost just 1 game at home from 15 and won 13 and drawn 1, that equals to 40 points from 45 won at home and they have now scored 50 goals, so are netting 3 goals per game at home on average.
Manchester City have scored 10 goals in their last 3 games in all competitions at home including 4 against Liverpool and 3 against Bayern Munich and in their last home game they were able to beat Leicester 3-1. With City it isn’t just their consistency and relentlessness which has gone up ten fold in the past month, it is also that there are so many goals in the side and that doesn’t looking like drying up any time soon. As it stands City trail Arsenal by five points that’s the bad news for the champions. The good news is that they have 2 games in hand and if they win here they would only be two points behind and of course still have two games in hand and would most probably have one hand on the title too.
Fine margins and all that though because if Arsenal were able to pull off a win they would go 8 points clear and City’s two games in hand wouldn’t mean as much. The Gunners have hit a bad patch though just at the wrong time, it is a patch of form which doesn’t include defeats but when you are challenging City for the league title, as Liverpool have found out in the past draws equal defeats. Arsenal have managed to draw their last three games dropping six points in the process and that has been disappointing. Perhaps drawing 2-2 at Liverpool can be acceptable but leading 2-0 against West Ham and blowing it isn’t. Drawing 3-3 to bottom side Southampton at home just doesn’t cut it as well. However the Gunners were losing 3-1 with two minutes to go and were unlucky not to win it in what would have been one of the most epic comebacks in Premier League history.
If Arsenal fans want good news there is some in the fact that their team has the best away record in the league with 36 points won from 48. It’s just two defeats so far and they are scoring two goals per game on average on the road and have the joint best defensive away record with Manchester City with only 13 goals conceded so far.
Team News:
Manchester City: Only Nathan Ake is a concern with a hamstring injury and is only 50/50 to make the squad.
Arsenal: Granit Xhaka will be hopeful to return as he missed last weekend through illness and he will be assessed. William Saliba is out with a back injury and Mohamed Elneny and Tomiyasu Takehiro are out for the season.
Man City vs Arsenal Head to Head:
Last season in this fixture Manchester City won 5-0.
Manchester City have scored 10 goals in the last 3 league games against Arsenal.
Earlier in the season in the reverse fixture Manchester City won 3-1.
Arsenal have not beaten Manchester City in the league for seven years.
Man City vs Arsenal Prediction:
This is the game where champions rise and we expect Manchester City to boss this game. This is akin to a Champions League final coming early for City, it is all or nothing and in front of their home fans and with the way their form has been we see only one winner and there could be a few goals too. It is all about confidence and we look back to only February to see how City as the game went on against Arsenal started to control the game and scored 3 goals at Emirates Stadium on their way to a deserved victory.
Arsenal will fight and will have their chances and they will understand how important a win here is. One has to wonder if the occasion will get to the team. The mental back bone of Arsenal has been questionable for a good decade now but under Mikel Arteta the club has taken giant steps forward but some doubt still remains given their last three results. This is a fixture that City has been able to absolutely dominate and we expect them to have too much on the night for the Gunners in what should be an absorbing game and a great advert once again for the Premier League.
Man City vs Arsenal Betting Tips:
Manchester City to beat Arsenal at 1.57
Anytime goalscorer: Erling Haaland at 1.57
Anytime goalscorer: Riyad Mahrez at 3.25
Over 2.5 goals at 1.60
The 'PLACE BET' button will take you to BetUK.com, where these selections can be found. Please gamble responsibly, 18+ BeGambleAware.org
© Copyright topfootballtipster.com 2019
