Manchester City vs Arsenal: Preview, team news, prediction and betting odds

Manchester City will be looking to bounce back from a shock away to to Newcastle United when they welcome the Gunners to the Etihad on February 3. A win for City will once again blow open the title race by reducing Liverpool's lead at the top of the table to just 2 points. Arsenal on the other hand cannot afford a slip-up as they look to build their chase for a Champions League berth.

Manchester City suffered a rare bad day at the office when they slumped to a 2-1 defeat away to Newcastle on January 30. City took the lead after just 24 seconds with yet another Sergio Aguero finish but the Magpies held on and their efforts bore fruit when Salomon Rondon equalised in the 66th minute. Matt Richie then kept his cool to slot home a penalty just 10 minutes from time to hand Newcastle victory.

Arsenal come into this game on the back of a morale-boosting win over Cardiff City which helped them break into the top-four. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette both found the net in a 2-1 win which saw them leapfrog Chelsea who suffered a 4-0 defeat to Bournemouth.

Arsenal have come a long way since their 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture at the Emirates on the opening day of the season. Since then the players have shown glimpses of brilliance under new manager Unai Emery. However, Emery has never managed to get the better of Guardiola in the previous 11 meetings.

City suffered back-to-back defeats in the League for the first time in two years when they lost to Leicester City on Boxing Day. They’ll be eager not to repeat that mistake especially with Liverpool showing little signs of slowing down.

Team News

City will be fretting over the fitness of goalkeeper Ederson, who suffered a nasty cut in their defeat to Newcastle. With Claudio Bravo sidelined due to an Achilles injury, Guardiola could be forced to deploy 20-year-old Aro Muric in goal. Benjamin Mendy is still making a comeback after injuring his knee and could feature on the bench while captain Vincent Kompany is out with another long-term injury.

Arsenal have a long list of absentees due to injury. Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding and Danny Welbeck are all out for the rest of the season while Sokratis Papastathopolous will also miss this fixture after injuring his ankle. Laurent Koscielny is back in full training and could return to his position in the centre of defence. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Ainsley Maitland-Niles will be assessed before the game.

Arsenal’s new signing Dennis Suarez will be available for the game against City but we’ll have to wait and watch to find out whether Emery will thrust him into the deep end barely a week after completing his move from Barcelona.

Possible Playing XI:

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Stones, Laporte, Danilo, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva, Sterling, Aguero, Sane

Arsenal: Leno, Lichtsteiner, Mustafi, Koscielny, Kolasinac, Torreira, Xhaka, Iwobi, Ramsey, Aubameyang, Lacazette

Players to watch out for:

Sergio Aguero

The Argentinean has been in blistering form this season scoring 16 goals from just 26 matches. With Arsenal’s defence greatly weakened due to injuries it will be interesting to watch how the Gunners cope with Aguero’s pace and incisive runs into the area.

Alexandre Lacazette

Arsenal’s French forward scored two beautiful individual goals in his last two Premier League games and will be raring to once again get on the score sheet. He scored both goals with powerful shots at the near post and Lacazette will be looking forward to once again exploit the space afforded him by Aubameyang’s presence on the wing.

Form Guide in EPL: (most recent first)

Manchester City: L W W W W

Arsenal: W W L W L

Betting odds (Bet365):

Manchester City: 1/3

Arsenal: 8

Draw: 5

Other popular bets can be viewed on Oddschecker.

Prediction:

Former Gunner Charlie Nicholas in his column for Sky Sports said that he is scared for his former team and sees the best-case scenario being a 3-0 defeat for Arsenal. “Man City will be angry and will be looking to close that gap before Liverpool play and we all know that City can rip any team apart. And because it is a big team coming to play them, they will be even more up for this, so I see nothing other than a comfortable City win.” said Nicholas.

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