Premier League Preview: Can the Gunners Open Fire on City?

Arsenal vs Manchester City

The greatest football league in Europe is now back to its regular programming, and fans cannot wait to see how their new-look teams would perform under the bright lights of the Premier League.

With all of the media circus involving the transfer window finally closing shut, fans can expect their clubs to focus on providing more exciting football games for us to catch. And one of the opening games of the weekend is sure to be quite a spectacular affair!

Manchester City begin their title defence in London as they trade blows with a new-look Arsenal team under Unai Emery. The Gunners have looked promising through preseason, but even the most casual fan knows that a friendly and a league game against one of the biggest fishes in the pond is a different matter altogether.

How will Emery be able to defend his home ground against the champions that racked up 100 points in the Premier League last season? SBOBET takes a look at this cracker of a match.

Talking Points

Manchester City will take up a lot of space in the Premier League 2018 news sites whether or not they win their opening match, and their accomplishments during their title-winning campaign puts them on a pedestal above everybody else.

You just know that the visitors are laughably overpowered if the biggest weakness of the Sky Blues is the losing battle against Father Time. Regardless of where you look in the roster, Pep Guardiola has built up an outstanding team that can compete in multiple fronts throughout the season.

Manchester City are probably on full strength with the return of Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne. — Raheem Sterling struggles while controlling the ball

Most of Pep’s first-choice players made a huge impression in the recently concluded World Cup and will likely stomp around England and Europe with their quality of play. With Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus, John Stones and Raheem Sterling, Manchester City’s dominant years are yet to come.

The scariest part about all of this? Pep Guardiola’s championship experience. He feels no unnecessary pressure from having to win it all over again. His history of handling top teams throughout Europe will definitely help him control the various personalities in the locker room and keep them focused on the games they will play throughout the year.

Regardless of the current strength of Arsenal, Unai Emery should be able to withstand Manchester City in the Premier League — Unai Emery and Pep Guardiola commanding in the touch line

Meanwhile, Arsenal will hope to start the latest era of their club history on the right foot by defending home ground against one of the most prolific football teams in Europe. Unai Emery will find his players outflanked in almost every aspect of the game, but his players should definitely be able to take the fight to the Citizens once the referee blows his whistle.

Everything starts with Mesut Ozil. The German is the new No10 for the Gunners, but many are concerned with his form after a rough summer saw him retire from international football. He needs to find joy in playing again, and Emery needs to reignite that spark within his main playmaker.

He also needs to sort out the situation at the front. He has two outstanding attackers in Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but it seems to the casual fan that these two cannot be played together all the time. There are multiple avenues that Emery can explore to have these two play football together, but we wouldn’t know if he will use the two together until they have walked out to the pitch.

Arsenal’s summer signing should also make an impact in this match. Lucas Torreira will be able to provide some resistance if he is picked to play in this game. Matteo Guendouzi could possibly see time in this important match if he impressed Emery enough during the preseason. Sokratis Papastathopoulos will be an important cog in Arsenal’s attempts to stifle City’s attacks.

History

These two clubs have squared off plenty of times, their first match going back to the time that Manchester City was still known as Ardwick and Arsenal still had Woolwich attached to their names. Arsenal won 96 of their 194 games and drew 45.

City may have only won 53 games against the Gunners, but their recent spike in rank has seen them compete in equal footing. The last three matches these two have played have ended in with Manchester City scoring three goals and winning the game. Meanwhile, Arsenal have only scored once in those three games.

Betting Tip

	Arsenal vs Manchester City	First Half 1X2 Draw @ 2.20
	August 12, 11:00 PM (GMT+8)

Both teams are coming off strong pre-season performances and will want to start the game running. However, I don’t think Arsenal will be able to stop Manchester City from taking the lead in the first half.

City showed everyone that their attacking prowess is still as sharp as ever during their Community Shield victory over Chelsea. City have plenty of attacking options to go to, and I don’t think Emery’s Arsenal can stop them in their current state just yet. I don’t see City not scoring on the first half when they begin to play some serious football.

Of course, you don’t have to go with my tip. There are other interesting Premier League 2018 odds to take note of.

In the Asian Handicap market, Arsenal +0.50 offers intriguing odds of 1.98. Over 3.25 Goals promises 2.16, and 4-6 Total Goals promises a big reward of 2.65 odds.