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Manchester City and Arsenal will square off on June 17, 2020 at the Etihad Stadium with both sides eyeing to solidify at Top 4 finish.
City has failed to defend its title as they sit 25 points behind leaders Liverpool. Pep Guardiola’s men are looking to distance themselves from Leicester City who is just four points behind the dethroned champions.
Meanwhile, Arsenal is currently in 9th place and 17 points behind Manchester City. The Gunners have not lost since the calendar turned 2020 and they won their last three assignments before play was postponed. A win over Manchester City would boost Arsenal’s chances of finishing in the Top 4 this season.
Manchester City
Manchester City has failed to defend their title this season as they are a far 25 points behind runaway leader Liverpool in the English Premier League team standings. The team is looking to get back in track as they did not play well right before the season was halted with two wins and 2-0 losses to Tottenham and Manchester United in their last four outings.
In their last match before the stoppage of play, Manchester City suffered a 0-2 loss at the hands of Manchester United. Anthony Martial and Scott McTominay netted for City but it was goalkeeper Ederson’s error in both plays that gave Manchester United their first win at home against Manchester City in the league since 2015.
Sergio Aguero leads Manchester City with a total of 16 goals this season. Raheem Sterling has netted 11 times while Gabriel Jesus has scored a total of 10 goals this term. Midfielder Kevin de Bruyne has a team-high 16 assists while Riyad Mahrez has eight assists and seven goals and David Silva with seven assists and three scores.
Manchester City is the best scoring team in England with a total of 68 goals this season. They are ranked 5th with a total of 31 goals conceded this term. City’s +37 goal difference is second overall in the English Premier League while their 51 assists are also second-best overall this term.
Arsenal
Arsenal was one of the teams displaying fine form before the season was suspended. The Gunners were having an excellent start under rookie coach Mikel Arteta who quit as Pep Guardiola’s assistant to take charge of Arsenal last December. The Spaniard has steadied the ship and has seen his new squad with an eight-game unbeaten run that has brought the Gunners back to European qualification.
In their last assignment before the league went on a hiatus, Arsenal scored a 1-0 win over West Ham United. Eddie Nkitiah paved the way for Alexandre Lacazette’s 78th-minute goal that was the difference in the match. Lacazette’s right-footed shot blasted into the bottom left corner. It was subjected to a VAR review for offside but after a lengthy discussion, the goal was counted.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang leads Arsenal with a total of 17 goals this term. Lacazette has also netted seven times this season while Nicolas Pepe has four goals and a team-high six assists for the Gunners. Lacazette and Bukayo Saka have three assists each for Arsenal.
The Gunners rank 8th in the English top-flight in goals scored with a total of 40 on the year. They are also #8 in goals allowed with a total of 36 conceded. Arsenal has the 9th best Goal Difference at +4 and they are the 7th-best passing team in the EPL with a total of 27 assists on the year.
Who Wins?
Since Pep Guardiola took over at Manchester City in the summer of 2016, Arsenal has not defeated City in league play. The Gunners’ only win in nine meetings against Manchester City during that period was a 2017 FA Cup semi-final win. City has won six consecutive times since that match and the gap in quality between the two sides has grown since then. Manchester City won their reverse fixture match last December with the score of 3-0.
As early as December, Manchester City’s title defense was already in peril as they trailed Liverpool by 14 points after their win over Arsenal. Now, Jurgen Klopp’s men only need two more wins to formally overthrow Manchester City in England and if City loses here and the Reds beat Everton on June 21, City will be officially known as former champions.
Manchester City has lost four times in their last 13 home games and while that isn’t a significant number, it gives Arsenal confidence heading to this contest. Add the fact that there will be no fans cheering for the home side in the stadium and this could turn out to be an interesting contest.
But even as the Gunners are a much-improved team under the Spaniard, Pep Guardiola could end up giving his former assistant a tough lesson here. Manchester City has dominated this matchup and Sergio Aguero has netted eight times in his last seven matches against Arsenal, including a hat trick in this fixture last season.
With Leroy Sane healthy again, Manchester City’s stellar crew of attackers should be able to shake Arsenal’s defense. With a still-shaky defense, Arsenal’s only hope here is to get aggressive and outscore Manchester City. However, it doesn’t have enough firepower to do so.
Prediction: Manchester City
Alternate Bet – Both Teams to Score
The Citizens have scored three against Arsenal in five out of their last six meetings. Arsenal though, has gotten on the scoresheet against City in their last seven meetings and the Gunners have been held scoreless just once since Arteta took over. The last four matches between these two sides have yielded a score of over 2.5 goals. There is an over 2.5 goals at Bet365 and it is currently priced at -275 and you can take it if you want. However, the odds of both teams scoring in this match has better value at -163. I will take the latter.
Prediction: YES (-163)
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