Manchester City v Arsenal Betting Tips

The most tantalising of Sunday’s fixtures is the top-of-the-table clash between title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal.

After a fantastic start to the season which saw them shoot to the top of the table, City have struggled since early October, meaning they currently sit in fourth, seven points off top-spot. After recording successive victories against strugglers Crystal Palace and Burnley, Pep Guardiola’s side lost two on the bounce which caused yet another setback. However, the midweek 2-0 victory over Watford provided a bit of a respite for The Citizens.

With such an incredible front-line, even though Aguero is currently suspended, goals are not a problem for Man City and they have only failed to find the back of the net on one occasion in the Premier League this season. However, it seems Guardiola is still yet to settle on his best defensive formation or players and, as a consequence, they are leaking goals left, right and centre with just two clean sheets since the start of October, whilst their record of 19 against is the joint-fourth worst in the top ten.

City may have put their home hoodoo to bed on Wednesday night but perhaps this was only temporary with Arsenal visiting on Sunday. Before that victory against The Hornets, The Citizens had not won a match at the Etihad in their last four attempts and, coming up against a top side such as The Gunners, means City may return to their former ways.

Arsenal had been on a fantastic run without a Premier League loss since opening day but that was halted in dramatic fashion against Everton on Wednesday night as Toffees manager Ronald Koeman continued his excellent record against Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger. This setback now means that The Gunners are now six points off Chelsea in top spot and the critics are quickly coming out with their knives and lamenting what many see as Arsenal’s classic mid-season crisis.

Wenger’s men were without key centre-back Shkodran Mustafi against Everton and it showed with The Gunners conceding very soft goals. The German defender is unavailable for the match against City which is a huge disadvantage for Arsenal give the home side’s incredible striking department.

However, at the other end they do have a forward in Alexis Sanchez who is in fantastic form at the moment with six goals in his last four Premier League matches and he should be able to cause havoc to dodgy City back-line.

The Gunners’ lost against Everton was their first loss away from the Emirates this season and overall they have only dropped points on the road on two other occasions so will be confident going to a team who look unsure on home turf.

I think this match is too hard to call given the injuries and suspensions, but I am predicting goals for both teams. Neither are looking secure at the back, but with the talent in their forward ranks it’s hard to see either failing to find the net here. ‘Both Teams to Score & Over 2.5 Goals’, at 4/5, is the bet to be on.

At higher odds, the enhanced special bet from William Hill, that can be snapped up in the widget below, of ‘Over 2.5 Goals, Over 10 Corners & Over 3 Cards’ is hard to ignore.

Both of these sides saw more than two goals be scored in 69% of their games, whilst City top the corner charts with an average of 7.38 for and 3.31 against per game with Arsenal a relatively high ninth with an average of 5.38 for and 4.00 against. In terms of disciplinary record, Manchester City in particular aren’t the cleanest side and are fifth highest in the bookings table so, with this likely to be a fairly tense game – as we saw between City and Chelsea a couple of weeks ago – I think over three cards is highly likely.

See more Premier League tips here.