Arsenal vs Manchester City
It’s one of the Premier League’s most popular fixtures; and fans worldwide will be tuning in on Sunday when Arsenal entertain Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.
There’s plenty at stake for both teams. After a poor run of form the Gunners have recently potted their manager, Unai Emery, while the reigning champions’ grip on their league title is rapidly loosening. Pep Guardiola will push his team to win every single game between now and May, and even that might not be enough to close the yawning 14 point gap between them and runaway leaders Liverpool.
The hosts are down in ninth position and have been playing like a mid table side in the opening 16 games, but they are only seven points away from fourth place and doing well in the Europa League, winning Group F to earn a seeding for the Round of 32 draw.
Coach Freddie Ljungberg was a Premier League winner with the Gunners and, while a new full time boss is being sought, he could be the man to lift Arsenal up the table in the coming weeks.
Talking Points
Can Ljungberg invoke the spirit of 2004?
The interim boss had a difficult start to navigate. Following a defeat at home to Brighton he faced a challenging trip to the London Stadium to face West Ham. These matches are always seen as derbies and played at a high tempo, and after going into the half time break a goal down, the Gunners came out firing in the second half. Three goals in ten minutes, the third from Pierre Emerick-Aubameyang, who is never far away from the Premier League 2019 highlights packages and has bagged 11 goals already this season.
But the hosts have problems at the back. Goalkeeper Bernd Leno has faced more shots at the Emirates than the Invicibles team of 2004 faced at home in the entire season. Ljungberg made 27 starts for Arsenal in that season, as a wide player, but he knows full well that defensive responsibility runs right through the team.
The midfield pairing of Matteo Guendouzi and Granit Xhaka should be capable of protecting their defenders but they need to cut out mistakes in the danger areas.
Sky Blues need a clean sheet
Much of City’s attacking play is channelled through Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian ace is the top assist maker in the league, with nine so far, while Gabriel Jesus is in a rich vein of form, following up a brace in City’s 1-4 destruction of Burnley with a hat-trick in the Champions League victory over Dinamo Zagreb with the same score line.
And therein lays a problem.
If the Gunners are struggling to defend then so are the Sky Blues, having gone ten games without a clean sheet, the last shutout coming back in October in a 3-0 victory over Aston Villa. But repeated failures to keep opposing strikers at bay have cost them points against Newcastle United and, last week, Manchester United. Surely the Sky Blues’ shock defeat in the Manchester Derby as good as ended their hopes of a third Premier League title on the bounce. Our latest Premier League 2019 betting odds offer a price of 9.00 on the title returning to the Etihad, with Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool now down to 1.10.
The Liverpool boss has just signed a new contract to stay at Anfield until 2024 so he’s not going away any time soon.
The situation looks pretty dire for Guardiola and he’s not exactly full of festive cheer. The Manchester City players missed the club Christmas party on Thursday night and with good reason. After last season’s yuletide celebration the Sky Blues recorded back-to-back defeats against Crystal Palace and Leicester City.
I don’t know…maybe a party would do them good!
History
There have been some great tussles between these two Premier League giants over the last 51 games, with the Gunners winning 26 to Manchester City’s 15, and there have been ten draws. But Guardiola’s team have had the better of recent exchanges, unbeaten in five and doing the double last year. In the opening fixture of the 2018/19 season, Manchester City had a 0-2 victory at the Emirates in Unai Emery’s first league game in charge of Arsenal. Raheem Sterling and Bernardo Silva were both on target and they are key players in City’s stratospheric attacking unit.
Betting Tip
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Arsenal vs Manchester City | Manchester City First Half 1×2 @ 1.95 |
| December 16, 00:30 (GMT+8) |
The SBOBET odds suggest a similar result is on the cards on Sunday. Arsenal are out at 6.00 to win this home game, with the Sky Blues at 1.45 and the draw available at 4.70.
Ljungberg may bring a feel good factor to the Emirates but his side has shortcomings which City can exploit.
A repeat of last season’s score, 0-2, is at 10-50, but with Manchester City going ten games without a clean sheet, you might prefer the most likely score line of 1-2 at odds of 7.60.
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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