Focus Fixture: Can Arsenal topple City at the Etihad?

Manchester City and Arsenal are set to slug it out over the Premier League title once again this season and they go toe-to-toe at the Etihad on Sunday.

The Form

Manchester City are the only team that have enjoyed a perfect start to the campaign. They have a two-point advantage over Arsenal coming into this clash so a win for the home side could be significant, even at this early stage.

Pep Guardiola’s side are chasing a fifth consecutive Premier League crown and are the favourites. City will be hunting success on all fronts while fighting their case against the 115 charges they face off the pitch.

Mikel Arteta has transformed Arsenal but toppling his former employer is proving to be a difficult task. The Gunners finished two points behind the champions last season. It’s the second consecutive season that they have finished runners-up to City.

Arsenal beat Tottenham 1-0 last weekend and will need to rely on a sturdy defence once again. The Gunners have only dropped points against Brighton thus far. Declan Rice’s sending off prepped costly in that one but the midfielder will feature at the Etihad.

The Runners and Riders

Oscar Bobb and Nathan Ake are ruled out for the home side. There are also doubts about Kevin De Bruyne’s fitness coming into this clash. The Belgian would be a huge loss for City as they attempt to break down Arsenal’s solid defence.

Arsenal will also be without their key playmaker. Martin Odegaard is set for a spell on the sidelines thanks to an injury he picked up on international duty.  Oleksandr Zinchenko and Mikel Merino are also unavailable.

What They Said

Pep Guardiola gave some hope that De Bruyne could feature in his pre-match press conference. He said, “He feels a little better today. Tomorrow we train and we will see. He could be [involved].”

Arteta has spoken of the challenge of the short turnaround between their trip to Bergamo and the match against Manchester City but insists his side are prepared. The Arsenal boss said, “We've been preparing for this since preseason. Obviously, we knew the schedule and we know that it's extremely rare to play in these conditions with three massive away games in six days.”

Selection

Manchester City matches have seen the fewest tackles in the Premier League so far this season with an average of 31.25 per game. Their matches last season also saw the fewest tackles with the team capable of dominating possession for long periods. However,  the line of 31.5 appeals here.

There were 33 tackles as these sides played out an uneventful draw in this fixture last season. This match could easily see plenty more tackles if there is a goal in the first half to increase the urgency. There were 42 tackles when Arsenal beat City at the Emirates last season.

There were 32 tackles in Manchester City’s most recent home match in the league against Brentford. Arsenal matches are also seeing plenty of tackles this season. This bet has won in all four of their league matches so far with an average of 38 tackles.

Recommended Bet: Over 31.5 tackles in the match at 1.90

Bet Builder

For our bet builder, we are backing at least one side to keep a clean sheet as well as Jurrien Timber and Ben White to make at least two fouls in the match.

There was just one goal scored across the two league meetings between these sides last season. Moreover, Arsenal have failed to score in five of their last six matches at the Etihad. 

Mikel Arteta also knows he can rely on his defence. His team conceded the fewest goals in the Premier League last season with an average of 0.76 per game. This dropped to 0.68 in their matches on the road.

Savinho, Doku and Grealish all enjoy dribbling with the ball and are adept at drawing fouls from the opposition. This puts Arsenal’s full-backs in the firing line. West Ham were the last team to play a back four in the league against City and both of their full-backs committed a foul. The heightened importance of this game should help inflate those numbers. In Arsenal’s draw with Atalanta on Thursday night, both Timber and White made one foul.

Recommended Bet: Both teams to score – no, over 1.5 fouls for Jurrien Timber and over 1.5 fouls for Ben White at 13.5