Manchester City have carelessly let precious points slip away of late, which have cost them in their chase of leaders Chelsea. Second-place City will have even less margin for error this weekend as the red-hot Alexis Sanchez leads his dangerous Arsenal side for a visit to the Etihad. Will the Gunners and their many offensive weapons fire their way past City’s sloppy defense? Read on for our preview of this top of the table clash.
Leaders Chelsea also go on the road to for a potentially tricky visit to Swansea on Saturday. Click here to read a preview of that game.
[sc:Soccer ]Manchester City vs. Arsenal Betting Preview
Where: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
When: Sunday, January 18, 11:00 PM ET
Line: Arsenal +335 at Manchester City -155, tie +265; total 3.0 – view all EPL lines
What’s at Stake
[sc:Soccer240banner ]City need a win to keep pace with leaders Chelsea, who could be as much as five points clear by the time City play on Saturday. Arsenal have another chance to break through to the top four by beating second-place City.
Betting on Manchester City
Another game without Yaya Toure, another game Manchester City fails to win. City’s inability to win without their inspirational midfielder, who is currently off on duty at the African Cup of Nations, is becoming quite a distressing trend for City. They have not collected all three points without Toure in the lineup since April 2014.
Toure’s absence comes at an inopportune time as he had scored in six of his last eight games. Toure’s physical and direct style of play would also have been very favorable against Arsenal’s infamously weak midfield.
Luckily for City, striker Sergio Aguero finally made his return after a month-long injury layoff, coming on as a substitute against Everton. Aguero is the league’s second leading scorer with 14 goals, and should strike fear in the heart of Arsenal’s shaky defense.
However, City have still not been able to solve their own problems at the back. They’ve been held to draws against struggling clubs Burnley and Everton after failing to hold on to the lead. They also shipped two more goals on their New Year’s home game at Sunderland.
City are unbeaten in their last six home games (five wins, one draw).
Betting on Arsenal
It’s a New Year, but the same old injury problems persist for the Arsenal. The Gunners once again lost starting right back Mathieu Debuchy to a dislocated shoulder suffered against Stoke. He had previously missed significant time earlier in the season because of an ankle injury.
Luckily for Arsenal, Debuchy’s injury didn’t prevent Arsenal from continuing their impressive form of late as they smashed Stoke, 3-0. The Gunners are now 4-1-1 in their last six Premier League games, with their lone setback a 2-0 away loss at in-form Southampton.
Speaking of in-form, Alexis Sanchez was sparkling against Stoke with two goals and an assist. Sanchez has now scored a team-high 12 goals in his debut season. He scored his first goal for Arsenal against City in the Community Shield, and will look to add more against a City defense that has not at all looked convincing of late.
Sanchez could be accompanied in the starting 11 by his fellow summer signing, Mesut Ozil, who finally made his return after a lengthy spell out due to a knee injury, as well as top midfielder Aaron Ramsey. The return of that talented midfield duo should provide Arsenal with a wealth of attacking options stored on their bench to throw later in the game.
Writer’s Prediction
With both teams possessing lethal offenses and questionable defenses, this game ends in an entertaining 2-2 draw. Create a betting account now and enjoy all the exciting, high-scoring affairs the Premier League has to offer.
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