If your idea of a perfect Sunday includes watching a football match between the two best sides in the Premiership, you are in for a real treat.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City face Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal in this top-of-the-table clash at the Etihad Stadium, and even though it is still so early in the season, whoever wins this game will have a massive psychological advantage, especially City, as it would give them a 5 point lead over their rivals.
Odds and Predictions
If you cast your mind back to the corresponding fixture last year, the sheer quality in both of these teams meant that they basically cancelled each other out and the match ended in a pretty boring 0 – 0 draw.
We can see something pretty similar happening with this match and to be honest, we were surprised how the top football betting sites have priced this one up, City are 1.92 favourites, Arsenal are a massive 4.50 and the odds on the draw are 3.60.
After careful consideration, the first one of our tips is a draw with a 1 – 1 scoreline at odds of 7.50.
For the last one of our predictions, we are going with a Bet Builder, ‘Erling Haaland – over 1.5 shots on target’, ‘Phil Foden – over 0.5 shots on target’, ‘Bukayo Saka – over 0.5 shots on target’.
This comes in at a very tasty 7.50, but we would advise that you wait until the line ups are announced approximately one hour before the match before placing the bet, just to make sure those players are starting.
Comparison and Statistics
Manchester City and Arsenal have faced each other head-to-head 211 times in their history, dating back to their first meeting in 1893.
Out of these encounters, Arsenal have won 99 matches, while Manchester City have won 65, with 47 games ending in a draw.
The last 5 H2H matches between these teams have been pretty much dominated by Manchester City, winning 3 and drawing 1.
| Past Meetings | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08 Oct 2023 | arsenal | 3-0 | manchester-city | Premier League |
| 06 Aug 2023 | arsenal | 1-1 | manchester-city | Community Shield |
| 26 Apr 2023 | manchester-city | 4-1 | arsenal | Premier League |
| 15 Feb 2023 | arsenal | 1-3 | manchester-city | Premier League |
| 27 Jan 2023 | manchester-city | 1-0 | arsenal | FA Cup |
Expected Line Ups
Manchester City suffered a blow in their Champions League match against Inter Milan when Kevin De Bruyne was substituted at half time with a groin problem so he must be a major doubt to play on Sunday.
Arsenal will also be missing their midfield general, Martin Odegaard, but it is safe to say that both teams can call on suitable replacements who will relish the opportunity to play in this game.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Ederson; Walker, Akanji, Dias, Gvardiol; Gundogan, Rodri; Savinho, Foden, Grealish; Haaland.
Arsenal (4-3-3): Raya; White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber; Trossard, Rice, Partey; Saka, Havertz, Martinelli.
How Will the Season Pan Out
If Manchester City win this match, we can see them building on the 5 point gap and pulling away from the chasing pack. We have watched every game they have played this season and they are looking so good, particularly Haaland, who has scored 9 goals already.
As for Arsenal, they will be there or thereabouts and if they can pull off a victory on Sunday, they will be one point ahead of City and probably be sitting at the top of the table (depending on the result of the Newcastle match).
