Arsenal v Manchester City: Back Gunners to ease the pressure with a draw

Arsenal v Manchester City
Sunday, 16:00
Live On Sky Sports 1

Arsenal

When the critics have been sharpening their knives in recent years, Arsene Wenger has been protected by his remarkable record of consistent Champions League qualification.

The trouble with using this line of defence, was that Wenger was always going to be put under real pressure if that run ever came to an end. This could well prove to be that season. A run of four defeats in their last five Premier League games has seen Arsenal plunge to sixth, some six points behind fourth placed Liverpool.

Arsenal have two games in hand on the Merseysiders but they need to start picking up points fast if they're to stand a chance of reclaiming their top four spot. That looks no easy task this weekend, as they host a Manchester City side unbeaten in seven Premier League outings.

As so often seems to be the way with Arsenal, they approach this crucial match without the services of a number of injured players. Santi Cazorla, Petr Cech, Lucas Perez and Yaya Sanogo are all out, while Mathieu Debuchy and Kieran Gibbs are doubts.

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola is not quite in Arsene Wenger's unenviable position, but he's certainly under some pressure.

Out of the Champions League and almost certainly the title race too, a place in the top four and the FA Cup are now Guardiola's more modest targets, with City set to face Arsenal in the semi-final at the end of April.

Though now unbeaten in the league since mid-January, City come into this one with only one win from their last four outings, having lost to Monaco in Europe and drawn at home to both Stoke and Liverpool. The 1-1 draw against Liverpool is the latest in a series of uninspired results against the top six, having claimed just eight points from the possible 21 available.

They've only won two of their seven games against their main rivals, but one of those wins did come against Arsenal. With matches against the Gunners and Chelsea to come this week, it's a crucial few days for Guadiola, who will could be without Kevin De Bruyne, Gabriel Jesus, Ilkay Gundogan, Bacary Sagna and Pablo Zabaleta.

Ref Watch

Andre Marriner will officiate. He showed six yellow cards in both the last Arsenal game he refereed - against Watford, and Manchester City - against Spurs.

Match Odds

Arsenal are the outsiders at 3.10, with the draw at 3.75 and Manchester City at 2.40.

The poor form of Arsenal has seen City emerge as favourites, but the visitors have only won one of their three away games against the top six and that was way back in September - against Manchester United - when City were still unbeaten.

If you fancy Arsenal's poor run to continue, back City in the Draw No Bet market at 1.76. The odds of the draw look awfully big though, especially considering that it would represent a decent result for Arsenal during this troubled period.

Over/Under 2.5 Goals

Overs is the big favourite at 1.64, with unders at 2.44.

City's recent form doesn't back that up, with their last four Premier League games seeing under 2.5 goals. While that makes the price for unders a tempting one, it's hard to put much faith in either defence holding firm.

Indeed, Both Teams To Score looks a certainty to land, but at 1.55 it's a little too skinny to recommend.

To Score

Sergio Aguero leads the betting at 2.20, which is a chunky price for a player with seven goals from his last seven games.

For Arsenal, top scorer Alexis Sanchez is value at 2.70, having returned to the starting lineup in recent weeks and scoring in the Gunners' last two games.

Recommended Bets
Back the draw at 3.75
Back Aguero to score at 2.20