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Manchester City host Arsenal in the biggest match of the Premier League season in an 8pm BST kick-off on Wednesday night from the Etihad Stadium. It is a massive game for the Gunners and I say for Arsenal simply because they have tried their best to throw this title away in the last 3 matches and now find themselves needing all 3 points to keep the title dream realistically alive. Below is my preview of what could be the match of the season along with my premier league betting tips.
City in Unique Position
Just a month or so ago I was talking about how Manchester City needed to win every match for the rest of the season and also needed somewhat of a calamitous failure from Arsenal, for the title to go to the Citizens. Lucky for them, Arsenal seem to have this knack of bottling titles over the years and Manchester City now have it in their hands.
Manchester City are 5 points behind Arsenal but have two games in hand. It’s quite a simple scenario from here in that if Pep Guardiola’s side win, they’ll need just 1 win from those 2 games in hand. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that City will cope with that. Man City have been incredible recently and has won the last 6 in-a-row in the Premier League and lost just 1 of the last 12.
At home, they’ve won the last 4 in a row, scored 12 goals and conceded just 3 goals. They’ve not lost at home in 8 games. Their last home defeat went back as far as 12th November, to Brentford, last year. Suffice to say that Manchester City are in a fantastic position and full of momentum going into this important fixture.
Epitomy of ‘Must Win’ for Arsenal
Whilst Arsenal could still lose this match and then go on to win the Premier League, in my opinion, it’s got very little chance of happening and, in reality, they need to win this match or at the very least, they need a draw and some favours from the likes of Newcastle and West Ham. The problem is that Mikel Arteta’s men are showing real weaknesses mentally once again. They went 2-0 up to Liverpool and ended the match 2-2. They went 2-0 up against West Ham and it ended 2-2. Despite missing a penalty, also. They then went and salvaged a draw against a team completely out of form. It seems like it doesn’t really matter who they’re playing, they’re going to do it the hard way.
Despite the fact that Arsenal haven’t lost in the last 10 matches in the league, they have 1 win from their last 4 matches. They have 2 wins and 2 draws from their last 4 away matches. They’ve scored 8 times and conceded just 4 goals in those 4 away matches. It could be said that this kind of match may suit Arsenal ordinarily but, in this instance, they need to be on the front foot and that’s so hard to do against Manchester City at the Etihad.
Head-to-Head and Team News
In terms of the team news, Manchester City only have Nathan Ake as a doubt. They’ve also just rested many of their best players against Sheffield United and that means that they will have a degree of freshness compared to Arsenal. Arsenal have no William Saliba in this one and that could spell trouble against the likes of Erling Haaland. Granit Xhaka is rumoured to potentially be back in this one but yet to be confirmed.
Head-to-head (Arsenal fans cover your eyes) shows Manchester City have won the last 7 in-a-row against Arsenal. That included 3 home victories. One was a 5-0 demolition back in August 2021. It also included the most recent 3-1 defeat, back in February, at the Emirates.
Manchester City vs Arsenal Betting Tips
I think this will be a win for Manchester City. Whilst Manchester City only need to win, they’ve scored 2+ goals in every game this year at The Etihad and i think the later this match goes, the more Arsenal will have to press and cause space for Haaland and co. I’m taking City with a -1 handicap.
One other bet that I will be looking out for is City to win, City having the most corners and Arsenal having the most cards. Keep an eye on the socials for that bet. Both via the official Punters Lounge Facebook page and the official Punters Lounge Twitter account.
Manchester City (-1 handicap) to beat Arsenal 7/5 Paddy Power
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