Can City Outgun The Gunners In A Head To Head Battle For The Premier League Title?

We are now in the middle of a thirteen-day period when there could well be significant movement in the Premier League at both ends of the table.

Last weekend, we not only saw some crucial movement in the Premier League table, but we also now know that we will have the first Manchester derby in the FA Cup Final after Manchester City and Manchester United made it out of their respective semi-finals.

Those games are swiftly followed by a midweek selection of games in the Premier League which includes some huge games at the bottom of the table, but which also sees the top two meet in what is likely to be the game that influences who wins the Premier League season the most.

Leaders Arsenal travel to Manchester City on Wednesday night for a crucial game between the top two that now effectively has pole position in the title race at stake.

A win for either team means they control the destiny of the title, while a draw would see City have a slim advantage, but only if they can win their games in hand.

Remember, you can enjoy a wealth of betting across all these games, both pre-match and In Play at bet365 Sport.

Then this is followed by another set of games at the weekend, ahead of the first set of European semi-finals, plus a couple of midweek games on Wednesday and Thursday meaning that across this 13-day alone, there are at least nine or even twelve points up for grabs for all Premier League teams.

Let’s begin by looking at the full set of fixtures and results that we have coming up over this crucial 13-day period.

Weekend Results

FA Cup Semi Finals

• Manchester City 3-0 Sheffield United (Mahrez 43(p),61,66)
• Brighton 0-0 Manchester United (Man Utd won 7-6 on penalties)

Premier League

• Arsenal 3-3 Southampton (Martinelli 20, Odegaard 88, Saka 90), (Alcaraz 1, Walcott 14, Caleta-Car 66)
• Fulham 2-1 Leeds United (Wilson 58, Pereira 72), (Palhinha 79 og)
• Crystal Palace 0-0 Everton
• Liverpool 3-2 Nottingham Forest (Jota 47,55, Salah 70), (Williams 51, Gibbs-White 67)
• Brentford 1-1 Aston Villa (Toney 65), (Douglas Luiz 87)
• Leicester City 2-1 Wolves (Ihenacho 37(p), Castagne 75), (Cunha 13)
• Newcastle Utd 6-1 Tottenham (Murphy 2,9, Joelinton 6, Isak 19,21, Wilson 67), (Kane 49)
• Bournemouth 0-4 West Ham (Antonio 5, Paqueta 12, Rice 43, Fornals 72)

Midweek & Weekend Fixtures

Tuesday 25^th April

• Wolverhampton Wanderers v Crystal Palace (7.30pm)
• Aston Villa v Tottenham (7.45pm)
• Leeds United v Leicester City (8pm)

Wednesday 26^th April

• Nottingham Forest v Brighton (7.30pm)
• Chelsea v Brentford (7.45pm)
• West Ham v Liverpool (7.45pm)
• Manchester City v Arsenal (8.00pm)

Thursday 27^th April

• Southampton v Bournemouth (7.45pm)
• Everton v Newcastle United (7.45pm)
• Tottenham v Manchester United (8.15pm)

Saturday 29^th April

• Crystal Palace v West Ham (12.30)
• Brighton v Wolverhampton Wanderers (3pm)
• Brentford v Nottingham Forest (3pm)

Sunday 30^th April

• Manchester United v Aston Villa (2pm)
• Fulham v Manchester City (2pm)
• Bournemouth v Leeds United (2pm)
• Newcastle United v Southampton (2pm)
• Liverpool v Tottenham Hotspurs (4.30pm)

Monday 1^st May

• Leicester City v Everton (8pm)

Tuesday 2^nd May

• Arsenal v Chelsea (8pm)

Wednesday 3^rd May

• Liverpool v Fulham (8pm)
• Manchester City v West Ham (8pm)

Thursday 4^th May

• Brighton v Manchester United (8pm)

While the race against relegation and for the Champions League and European places is intriguing, there is no doubt that it is the title race which is dominating the news at the moment, so with that in mind, let’s take a look at how both sides match up ahead of Wednesday’s huge clash.

The Premier League Title Race – Manchester City v Arsenal

Current Standings

As you can see, Arsenal hold a five point lead over City ahead of Thursday’s game, but City could overtake Arsenal if they were to win their two games in hand over the Gunners.

Those games won’t be played until after this fixture between the two, which places even greater emphasis on the result because:

• If Man City win – The gap closes to two points and but City would move four points clear of Arsenal if they win their games in hand.
• If it is a draw –  The gap would remain five points meaning City could go a point ahead if they win their games in hand.
• If Arsenal win – The gap would increase to eight points, meaning even if City win both their games in hand, Arsenal would still lead them by two points.

So you can see why so many people feel that this game is a title decider, especially with both teams on long unbeaten runs (Man City 17 games and Arsenal 10 games).

Remaining Fixtures

The games a team has remaining combined with how busy their schedule is can have a massive impact on the title race too.

Here it is a mixed bag. Arsenal have the tougher run in in the Premier League with away games to come against the teams ranked 2^nd (Man City) and 3^rd (Newcastle) in the table, as well as a tricky London derby against Chelsea sandwiched in between those two games.

City may have an easier run in in terms of opposition in their final eight games, but they do have two more EPL games to play than Arsenal, plus at least three and possibly four more games (2-legs of a Champions League semi-final with Real Madrid, plus the FA Cup Final and possibly a Champions League Final if they beat Madrid).

That means City are going to be by far the busier of the two teams over the remaining weeks of the season as you can see from their remaining fixtures.

Manchester City

• Wed 26^th Apr – (H) v Arsenal
• Sun 30^th Apr – (A) v Fulham
• Wed 3^rd May – (H) v West Ham United
• Sat 6^th May – (H) v Leeds United
• Tue 9^th May – (A) v Real Madrid (Champions League Semi Final 1^st Leg)
• Sun 14^th May – (A) v Everton
• Wed 17^th May – (H) v Real Madrid (Champions League Semi Final 2^nd Leg)
• Sun 21^st May – (H) v Chelsea
• Wed 24^th May – (A) v Brighton
• Sun 28^th May – (A) v Brentford
• Sat 3^rd Jun – (N) v Manchester United (FA Cup Final)
• Sat 10^th Jun – (N) – Potential Champions League Final

Arsenal

• Wed 26^th Apr – (A) v Manchester City
• Tue 2^nd May – (H) v Chelsea
• Sun 7^th May – (A) v Newcastle United
• Sun 14^th May – (H) v Brighton
• Sat 20^th May – (A) v Nottingham Forest
• Sun 28^th May – (H) v Wolves

Team News

Despite a long and arduous season, both teams are in relatively good health regarding injured players ahead of the game.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola will be without just one started, defender Nathan Ake, who has been a regular in defence for City this season and has played all positions along the back line.

Meanwhile Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta still has two long-term absentees in Mohamed Elneny and Takehiro Tomiyasu, while defender William Saliba is still not fit but should be back in a couple of weeks.

Granit Xhaka, who missed the 3-3 draw with Southampton last Friday through illness, should return.

Manchester City Predicted XI – (4-3-3)

• GK – Ederson
• DR – Akanji
• DL – Silva.B
• DC – Ruben Dias
• DC – Stones
• DMC – Rodri
• MC – Gundogan
• MC – De Bruyne
• AMR – Mahrez
• AML – Grealish
• AC – Haaland

Bernardo Silva has been playing left back of late, but Pep Guardiola could opt to bring back Kyle Walker and switch Akanji to left back, which means Silva could replace Mahrez, or start on the bench.

Erling Haaland? ⚽️
Bukayo Saka? ✨
Martin Odegaard? 🅰️
Kevin de Bruyne? 🧙‍♂️

Pick your Man City v Arsenal combined XI before they face each other on Wednesday 👇 #BBCFootball

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) April 24, 2023

Arsenal Predicted XI – (4-3-3)

• GK – Ramsdale
• DR – White
• DL – Zinchenko
• DC – Holding
• DC – Gabriel
• DMC – Thomas Partey
• DMC – Xhaka
• MC – Odegaard
• AML – Martinelli
• AMR – Saka
• AC – Gabriel Jesus

In Saliba’s absence Rob Holding has stepped into the team and will likely continue. Xhaka’s return to midfield means Fabio Vieira will drop down onto the bench.

Recent Stats And Trends

A look at the recent games between the two shows a complete reversal of the historic record.

Arsenal have won the vast majority of the games between the two since they first played each other, as in 207 games, Arsenal have won 98 of them compared to City’s 64 (45 draws).

But in the most recent 15 games, Arsenal have won just one, while Manchester City have won 14, including all the last seven games.

In fact, Arsenal last beat Manchester City in the Premier League back in 2015.

What is more alarming for Arsenal is that over those last 15 matches between the two, not only have City won 14, but they have also scored 34 goals in those matches, compared to just seven for Arsenal.

Add into that City’s form, the fact they are at home, Arsenal’s current run of draws and it is easy to see why so many feel this is going to be a win for Manchester City on Wednesday night.

My Top Tips For Man City v Arsenal

Backing Manchester City to win is not really worth it as even with bet365 Sport, they are a team that is odds on to land the win.

As such these are my preferred bets for the game:

• Man City to win and both teams to score – 2/1
• Correct Score – Manchester City to win 3-2 – 22/1
• Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City) – Anytime Goalscorer – 3/1

The game kicks off at 8pm on Wednesday night so remember to get your bets on if you fancy a flutter on the outcome!