Manchester City v Arsenal
Sunday, 14:15
Live on Sky Sports Premier League

Of the two big games on Sunday, this for me is definitely the more exciting. You've got two very open sides who play expansive and entertaining football which should hopefully make for a great game for the neutrals.

I thought Arsenal's performance against Everton last time was one of their better this season. They continue to show that they're comfortable playing their usual brand of football but they do leave themselves vulnerable at the back on occasion.

I commentated when they played Watford a few weeks ago and despite looking imperious in the first half, their 'Jekyll & Hyde' side came out after the break as they sat back and invited Watford pressure on, eventually dropping three points - albeit from a poor penalty decision.

It's going to be fascinating to see how they set up against Manchester City, they put in a really disciplined performance when they met at the Emirates last season. And with the way that City are playing at the moment they'll be focusing on the challenge of how to defend against them first and foremost.

The biggest concern that City will be having at the moment is not becoming complacent as they continue to put up cricket scores against their opponents. They need to be really careful of the 'we'll score one more than you' attitude as there was clearly a lapse in concentration from their back four against West Brom last week.

When you're a side like them, playing at the peak of your powers, it's so easy to let your mind drift in a game where everything is happening in front of you. But what sets the best players aside from the ordinary is the ability to operate at the highest level when you're not centrally involved in a match.

That being said, this will be a very different test to last week for City with Arsenal commanding a much higher percentage of possession. If the Gunners continue to line up with a back three, Pep Guardiola could employ similar tactics to those that he used to devastating effect against Chelsea earlier in the season. This involved pinning their wing-backs back and suffocating the defence; working the ball to Sane, De Bruyne and Jesus at any available opportunity.

I definitely expect both sides to score but think City will have too much bite up front for an Arsenal defence that still have a certain frailty to them.

Recommended Bet
Manchester City to beat Arsenal 3-1 @ 11.50




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