Ian JohnThis Wednesday evening, the top two teams in the Premier League will meet up in their clash that was rescheduled from earlier in the season. Table-topping Arsenal host Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium knowing that a win would put them six points clear of their title rivals once again.
However, City have a fantastic record against Arsenal in recent times and Pep Guardiola’s team will know that a win here would not only take them top of the table, but also strike a psychological blow for his team, with the rematch between the two taking place in April at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.
After a run of poorer results of late, Mikel Arteta will want his Arsenal side to find their best form once again, especially against a team who are now their main rivals for the Premier League title and who they have such a poor record against in recent times.
This is a huge game in the context of the Premier League title race and you can expect bet365 Sport will be busy with plenty of punters enjoying a wager on the game, even though it will take place on the same night as Champions League action.
Let’s begin our preview of tonight’s big game with a look at how things stand in the Premier League at present after Monday’s Merseyside derby which saw Liverpool enjoy their first win of 2023 thanks to a 2-0 win over Everton at Anfield.
Premier League Table – Top Six (as of 14th Feb 2023)
| P | Team Name | Ply | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | GD |
| 1 | Arsenal | 21 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 46 | 18 | 51 | +28 |
| 2 | Manchester City | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 56 | 22 | 48 | +34 |
| 3 | Manchester United | 23 | 14 | 4 | 5 | 37 | 28 | 46 | +10 |
| 4 | Newcastle United | 22 | 10 | 11 | 1 | 35 | 13 | 41 | +22 |
| 5 | Tottenham Hotspurs | 23 | 12 | 3 | 8 | 42 | 35 | 39 | +7 |
| 6 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 21 | 10 | 5 | 6 | 39 | 28 | 35 | +11 |
Manchester City have started to claw back the gap Arsenal had opened up, especially this past weekend where City’s win over Aston Villa, combined with Arsenal dropping points once again at home to Brentford means the gap between the two is now just three points.
However, since the World Cup, Arsenal’s form hasn’t been as strong as earlier on this season, but Manchester City have not really capitalised on that as much as they would have liked as a look at each team’s form will show.
Current Form (post World Cup)
Arsenal
- EPL – V West Ham (H) – W 3-1
- EPL – V Brighton (A) – W 4-2
- EPL – V Newcastle United (H) – D 0-0
- FAC – V Oxford Utd (A) – W 3-0
- EPL – V Tottenham Hotspurs (A) – W 2-0
- EPL – V Manchester United (H) – W 3-2
- FAC – V Manchester City (A) – L 0-1
- EPL – V Everton (A) : L 0-1
- EPL – V Brentford (H) – D 1-1
Form Data
- Played – 9
- Won – 5
- Drawn – 2
- Lost – 2
- Goals For – 16
- Goals Against – 8
- EPL Points – 14/21 (& Eliminated from the FA Cup)
Manchester City
- EFL – V Liverpool (H) – W 3-2
- EPL – V Leeds Utd (A) – W 3-1
- EPL – V Everton (H) – D 1-1
- EPL – V Chelsea (A) – W 1-0
- FAC – V Chelsea (H) – W 4-0
- EFL – V Southampton (A) – L 0-2
- EPL – V Manchester United (A) – L 1-2
- EPL – V Tottenham Hotspurs (H) – W 4-2
- EPL – V Wolverhampton Wanderers (H) – W 3-0
- FAC – V Arsenal (H) – W 1-0
- EPL – V Tottenham Hotspurs (A) – L 0-1
- EPL – V Aston Villa (H) – W 3-1
Form Data
- Played – 12
- Won – 8
- Drawn – 1
- Lost – 3
- Goals For – 24
- Goals Against – 12
- EPL Points – 16/24 (& Eliminated from League Cup, Still in FA Cup)
Interestingly, while Manchester City may hold the advantage in recent head-to-head games between the two by a considerable margin, over the history of the fixture from when they first played in November 1893 Arsenal still hold a much better record than City.
Arsenal v Manchester City – Head To Head
- Played – 206
- Arsenal Wins – 98
- Man City Wins – 63
- Draws – 45
In games between the two managers, there are just six examples of this as Arteta served under Guardiola for many years at City and unsurprisingly, since Arteta took up his role at Arsenal, it us Guardiola who has come out on top in most of these games.
Pep Guardiola v Mikel Arteta – Head to Head
- Played – 6
- Guardiola Wins – 5
- Arteta Wins – 1
- Draws – 0
So with a specific look at betting on bthis game, are there any trends that we can identify from the matches between the teams, especially the most recent games? Some of those key trends are outlined below.
Trends
- Manchester City have won all the last six between the two teams and have lost just one of the last 14 games between the two, with Manchester City winning 13 of those games.
- Across those last 14 games, both teams have scored in just four of them.
- Nine of those last 14 games have seen over 2.5 goals scored.
- The last draw between the two was a 2-2 draw back on April 2nd 2017 at the Emirates Stadium.
- Arsenal’s last victory over Manchester City in the Premier League at home was a 2-1 victory back in December 2015.
- That defeat in December 2015 is Manchester City’s sole defeat against Arsenal away from home since April 2012.
- Arsenal’s two most recent wins have both come in the FA Cup Semi Finals at Wembley (a 2-1 win in April 2017 and a 2-0 win in July 2020).
- In the most recent 14 games between the two, Manchester City have scored 34 goals across those games with Arsenal scoring just 6.
- The last 0-0 between the two teams was back in January 2011.
Injuries And Suspensions
Arsenal
Gabriel Jesus, Reiss Nelson, Mohamed Elneny and Emile Smith Rowe will miss the game with Manchester City due to injury with Nelson and Rowe expected to be back sometime in late February early March and Jesus is set to return in mid-March.
Manchester City
John Stones will miss the game with Arsenal due to a thigh injury he sustained at the World Cup and then aggravated. Erling Haaland is rated about 50/50 to play against Arsenal due a kick he received at the weekend against Aston Villa.
Potential Line Ups
Arsenal (4-2-3-1) – GK – Ramsdale, DR – White, DL – Zinchenko, DC – Gabriel, DC – Saliba, MC – Partey, MC – Xhaka, AMR – Saka, AML – Martinelli, AMC – Odegaard, AC – Nketiah
Manchester City (4-3-3) – GK – Ederson, DR – Lewis, DL – Ake, DC – Dias, DC – Laporte, MC – Gundogan, MC – Rodri, MC – DE Bruyne, AML – Grealish, AMR – Mahrez, AC – Haaland
Our Match Tips And Predictions
- Match Result – Manchester City – 11/8 with bet365
- Correct Score – Arsenal 1-2 Manchester City – 9/1 with bet365
- First Goalscorer – Julian Alvarez (Man City) – 11/2
- Anytime Goalscorer – Riyadh Mahrez (Man City) – 7/2
Tune in on Wednesday night to see how the game between these two giants of the Premier League turns out with the match being shown live on Sky Sports.
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