Manchester City vs Arsenal: Big Bet Preview

Credit: Thomas McAtee

Manchester City vs Arsenal
(SUN 19th Apr, 4:30PM UK - Sky Sports)

Well, well, well. It’s all going wrong in North London! Spurs have six games to save their Premier League status, and Arsenal fans aren’t even comfortable enough at the top to revel in it. The Gunners had the opportunity to go twelve points clear at the top last weekend when they played Bournemouth in the early kick-off before City travelled to Chelsea. What transpired, of course, was Arsenal losing to the Cherries at the Emirates and Manchester City thrashing Chelsea to cut the deficit to just six points. Should City win this weekend against Arsenal, and collect three points in their game in hand, they will be top of the table on goals scored as a minimum. Suddenly it could all be in their hands. You wonder what psychological effect losing the Carabao Cup final could have had on Mikel Arteta’s side. Both sides have proven they can be got at this season and neither have been at their imperious very best, who will come out on top in this weekend’s game that is being billed as the effective title decider? City or Arsenal? Guardiola or Arteta? Master or apprentice? The very top of the English football pyramid is at stake in this weekend’s Tipple Big Bet!

Click here to download Tipple and startplaying

Form

City haven’t lost a Premier League game since the 17th of January when they got turned over by United, and it looks like they’re starting to ramp it up as the season closes out. In their last three games they’ve beaten Arsenal in the League Cup final, Liverpool in the FA Cup and Chelsea in the league without conceding a goal. Ominous signs if you’re an Arsenal supporter. They’ve suffered blips in Europe, crashing out with two losses to Real Madrid, but have been all-but perfect domestically since the turn of the year. Can they find a way through Arsenal again when it really counts?

Mikel Arteta hates April. Their last 5 games have seen them lose 3, draw 1 and only win 1, beating Sporting 1-0 away from home. They’d only lost 3 in their last 47 games before his run. Stark. They look tired, out of ideas, and overly wedded to a system that just isn’t working anymore. Gone are the days of Arteta’s free-flowing Gunners. Defeat to City knocked their confidence, losing at Southampton was an embarrassment, and the loss to Bournemouth has massively hurt their title hopes. The second leg against Sporting could’ve been a great chance to get their mojo back in midweek, but they stumbled to an uninspiring 0-0 draw. Losing this weekend could be devastating for Arsenal, can they channel their past selves and claim a huge point, or even three?

Head-to-head

Arsenal haven’t won at the Etihad since the January of 2015. You could run with that headline. Alternatively, Manchester City have only beaten Arsenal once in their last 7 meetings, that being the Carabao Cup final just weeks ago. It depends how you spin it.

It seemed for a while that Arteta had finally cracked how to set his team up against City, with 4 draws and 2 wins in 6 games, including a statement 5-1 win at the Emirates last season. The cup final swung the other way as City had an answer for everything Arsenal tried to do, will Guardiola be able to repeat the feat again this weekend?

Before that 6-game run, City had beaten Arsenal in 15 of their last 16 meetings in all competitions. It was a run that needed halting, and halted it was. Now City have found a way to beat Arsenal again, can Arteta figure out how to get a result against his old mentor?

Key Match Up

Rayan Cherki vs Declan Rice

Rayan Cherki embodies everything this Arsenal side have been missing in recent weeks. Flair, unpredictability, and a blinding confidence that exudes from him with every touch. He plays as if he never questions wether or not he can do something, because why wouldn’t he be able to?

His fluidly and ego are not at the expense of output either. He has 9 goals and 14 assists already for City since joining in the summer, including 3 assists in his last 2 games for the club. He is almost the antithesis of a Guardiola player, but maybe that’s why he loves him so much. In what is in all likelihood his final season as City manager, why not have a bit of fun? Cherki lights up the pitch whenever he plays, and is a handful for even the best of teams. Up against the rigidity of the Arsenal defence, can he summon up some magic to break them down?

Declan Rice will be one of those charged with putting a stop to the Frenchman’s shenanigans. The £100m+ man is having another standout campaign in the middle of the park for Arsenal, and has a time and time again proven himself to be one of the greatest midfielders in the world. All he’s missing is that big trophy, ECL with West Ham aside. He dominates play both defensively and offensively, and has been relied on to bail Arsenal out of tricky situations going forwards on more than one occasion. He can’t do it all, or can he? While the rest of his team seem to shy away from the challenge, Rice needs to step up and take charge. This could be the game that defines his, and Arsenal’s, season. So go out and win it. 

Preview

Mohammed Salah, Kevin De Bruyne, Sergio Aguero, Robin Van Persie, Eden Hazard, Jamie Vardy. Every major title winning side in recent memory has had someone able to grab their team and lift them up when the going gets tough. Someone who can pop up in the 85th minute to give their side the lead in an attritional physical battle at Newcastle or West Ham. I just don’t see who can do that for Arsenal.

All their key players are defenders, and with their set piece magic beginning to wain, they need to look to one of their forward players to start producing those moments. Gyökeres isn’t that sort of player and will always rely on excellent service for him to be effective, Ødegaard and Saka haven’t been fit seemingly all season to produce at their very best, and Eze, Martinelli, and Trossard simply aren’t good enough. Don’t get me wrong, Arsenal are still more than capable of winning the title and City are far from perfect. But it looks like if they do get there they’ll have to limp, rather than gallop, over the line. 

It’s looking likely that this season could be the conclusion of Pep Guardiola’s reign at Manchester City, and he would love nothing more than to go out with a seventh league title, and maybe even a third FA Cup, to go with his five Carabao Cups and historic Champions League win. That’s some cabinet. As discussed, City haven’t been anywhere near the level of their near-perfect title winning seasons of the past, but they haven’t had to be. They’ve kept pace with Arsenal, and proven they know how to beat them, it now seems almost inevitable that they’ll waltz their way to another league title.

It’s the biggest game of the season, and all eyes will be on the Etihad this Sunday. A draw suits Arsenal, and a win for either side would swing the title odds heavily in their favour. Who will come out on top in this weekend’s Big Bet?

Tipple Difficulty Rating: 8.5/10