Arsenal vs Manchester City
Mikel Arteta’s second season at Arsenal is turning into quite a disaster. The Gunners are struggling mightily in the league and have now gone seven matches without a win.
Arteta is now set to meet his old club, Manchester City, in a cup competition for the second year running as they clash in the EFL Cup quarter-finals at the Emirates.
While Arteta got the better of his mentor Pep Guardiola en route to winning the FA Cup last season, the EFL Cup 2020 betting odds will be significantly against the Gunners, who are woefully out of form heading into this cup tie.
Talking Points
Arsenal lacking options in attack
Arsenal’s disastrous run of form in the Premier League continued over the weekend as they lost 2-1 away to Everton. That defeat extended their winless drought in the league to seven straight games (five defeats, two draws).
With Arsenal struggling for goals – they have scored just 12 all season, the fewest in the league outside of the bottom three – Arteta surprisingly started a line-up that had a front three of Eddie Nketiah, Nicolas Pepe, and Willian.
Captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who scored for the first time in five matches, missed out due to a calf injury. But despite his absence, the misfiring Alexandre Lacazette (just one goal in his last 12 appearances) only started on the bench and came on as a second-half substitute.
Due to his injury, it’s looking unlikely Aubameyang will be fit enough to play against City. His potential absence would be a significant blow to Arsenal’s chances of coming up with another cup upset. Aubameyang scored both goals in Arsenal’s shock 2-0 victory over City in last season’s FA Cup semi-final.
As the Everton match showed, Arteta has limited options when it comes to fixing his ailing attack. Brazilian teenager Gabriel Martinelli came on for his first appearance of the season after a lengthy injury layoff and could potentially be called upon to create some EFL Cup 2020 highlights against City.
Man City’s conservative style producing results
Manchester City finally snapped their run of back-to-back league draws – 0-0 against Man United and 1-1 against relegation strugglers West Brom – as they beat top-four contenders Southampton 1-0 at St. Mary’s.
It was another solid defensive performance from City as Pep Guardiola has continued to change his side’s system.
City are no longer the all-out attacking force that scored goals for fun. Now, they are a more conservative side that look to play it safe by going for fewer chances while using possession to avoid exposing their defence.
While that style is far from exciting, the early returns have at least produced some positive results. Since losing 2-0 to Tottenham in November, City have gone unbeaten in their last eight matches in all competitions (five wins, three draws) and have impressively kept clean sheets in seven of those matches.
Despite missing Gabriel Jesus due to a tooth issue, Guardiola opted not to start Sergio Aguero against Southampton. Pep looks like he’s exercising extra caution with the 32-year-old striker to avoid another injury, and this cup tie could be a good chance for him to make his first start since returning from injury.
Aguero has a good record against the Gunners, scoring 11 goals in 16 total appearances against them.
History
Pep Guardiola has pretty much had Arsenal’s number ever since he moved to England in 2016. In 12 meetings against the Gunners, Pep’s City have won nine times, with one draw and just two defeats.
However, both of Arsenal’s wins over City have come in cup competitions. They won 2-1 in 2017 in the FA Cup and 2-0 in last year’s FA Cup semi-final tie.
City and Arsenal have already met once this season, with Raheem’s Sterling loan goal giving City a close 1-0 win at home. Sterling has scored four times in City’s last six matches against Arsenal.
Betting Tip
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Arsenal vs Manchester City | Under 3.25 @ 1.85 |
| December 23, 04:00 (GMT+8) |
SBOTOP odds are leaning heavily on Manchester City, who are 1.67 favourites to knock Arsenal out. The Gunners are priced at 4.70 to pull off the upset, while a draw is 3.70.
Given their current struggles, it’s hard to make a good case for the Gunners getting past City again. But instead of going for a City win, there’s a bit more value in betting the under.
Considering Arsenal’s inability to score goals and City’s much-improved defence, this figures to be a low-scoring cup tie.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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 = €20 (Highly confident) |
= €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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