The biggest game in the Premier League this weekend sees fifth placed Arsenal travel to second placed Man City and as both sides look to kick on in their respective title and Champions League qualification battles this promises to be a thriller.
Four of the last five meetings between these teams in the league have seen both teams score, with those five clashes producing 19 goals, including the spectacular 6-3 home win in the corresponding fixture last term. Since then there have been two draws at the Emirates, including an exciting 2-2 back in September. As such, it seems a fair bet that we will see more goals here, especially with both sides welcoming key attacking players back from injury.
Man City may have drawn two of their last three (to Burnley and Everton) but they have only dropped six points in their last 12 games and have to be considered to be in excellent form. With Arsenal winning six of their last nine both teams will be full of confidence but given the Gunners have failed to impress either on their travels or against the league’s elite, it’s easy to see why the Citizens are strong favourites for all three points.
Manuel Pellegrini’s men can be backed at odds of 4/5 with Bet365 here and that looks very fair, whilst Arsenal are out at 18/5 with BetVictor and those keen on backing a third straight league stalemate between these attacking outfits can get odds of 3/1, again with BetVictor.
The Gunners have gone down 2-0 at both Chelsea and Southampton, also losing at Stoke and Swansea, their best result on the road probably a 2-1 win at West Ham. In contrast the Citizens have won four of their five home games against top 10 sides, drawing the other 1-1, against Chelsea. We don’t expect a repeat of the 6-3 scoreline from last season but overall we have to predict a home win and wouldn’t be overly surprised if the game followed a similar pattern to the corresponding clash from last term.
Manchester City v Arsenal Betting Tips
- Man City to win – 4/5 represents a 56% chance of a City win and given they have won four of their last six at home against the Gunners we think that looks very solid value. With Arsenal always vulnerable at the back City will feel they can outscore them, even if Alexis Sanchez will take some stopping.
- Alexis Sanchez to score at anytime – Sanchez is the signing of the season thus far and is in brilliant form after shining last time out. The Chilean has to be backed at 2/1 with Sky Bet to register during the 90 minutes.
- Man City to win and BTTS – 4/5 is great value for the home win but chuck in BTTS and you’ll up that to 11/5 (with Coral), an outcome that looks nailed on given the firepower of both sides and their recent head to head stats.