It feels like the beginning of the end for Arsene Wenger long stretching tenure. Fan pressure is mounting on the French man who has been at Arsenal for over two decades. Arsenal have recorded just 3 wins in their last 9 games in all competitions, with 2 of those victories coming in the FA Cup wins over minnows Southend and Lincoln City. In the Premier League it’s 4 defeats in 5 for the Gunners with last week’s abhorrent display at West Brom being the latest in a line of Premier League horror shows. Bayern Munich put 10 past Arsenal over two humiliating Champions League legs to compound their misery and many supporters have understandably had enough.
With the Premier League title already odds on to go to Chelsea, Man City’s recent Champions League defeat to Monaco will have hurt Pep Guardiola even more. City have drawn their last two league games and will still have to fight tooth and nail to guarantee a place in next season’s top European tournament. City came from behind to beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Etihad just before Christmas in the reverse fixture.
Arsenal’s number one Petr Cech is set to miss Sunday’s game with a calf injury, but Mesut Ozil featured off the bench for Germany raising hopes that he will be fit enough to start against City. City’s star playmaker Kevin De Bruyne faces a race against time to be fit following a groin injury. Raheem Sterling should be fit however after he came off after an hour in England’s game against Lithuania with a back injury.
I’m expecting plenty of goals on Sunday between Arsenal and Man City. Neither side can call on any kind of defensive surety to help win them points, so it will be a case of both sides putting their focus on productivity in the attacking third. There may very well be a toxic atmosphere at the Emirates on Sunday and Man City have every chance of heaping the misery on Arsene Wenger. Away win.
Ladbrokes have odds of 11/4 for both teams to score and Man City to win which ties in nicely with my analysis above. NetBet have interesting odds on there to be over 1.5 goals in the first half at 6/4, which seems generous given the current state of both sides.