Manchester City and Arsenal will go head-to-head this Wednesday in arguably the biggest game of the Premier League season for a top-of-the-table clash that could decide where the title will end this season.
Both sides are in a heated title race, with Pep Guardiola hoping to ensure his mentee and former assistant Mikel Arteta does not end their run to a third straight Premier League title.
After slipping up, Guardiola’s side has fought well to keep up with Arsenal, thanks to a strong run of six straight Premier League wins.
They have done so while keeping their quest for a historic treble alive. They saw off Bayern Munich last week ( 4-1 on aggregate) to reach the Champions League semi-finals before beating Sheffield United (3-0) last weekend to book a place in the FA Cup final against Manchester United.
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So they come into this time in solid shape as they attempt to close Arsenal’s five-point gap at the top of the table, knowing they still have two games in hand.
Their form at the Etihad will give them belief here, as the Cityzens have won each of their last six home PL fixtures by at least a two-goal margin, even though only two came with a clean sheet.
But Arsenal could struggle to score here as the hosts haven’t conceded in any of the last four head-to-head meetings (W4). The North London side have had terrible outings in their recent visits to the Etihad and cannot afford another poor result as that will take the title destiny out of their hands.
Although they are five points ahead of City, they have played two more games and must win this game to ensure that the title destiny is still in their hands at the end of this round.
They could have been okay with a draw if they hadn’t shot themselves in the leg with three straight draws in which they conceded seven goals.
They travel to the Etihad without a clean sheet in their last six games and must sort out their terrible defence to get all three points in this game and keep their title quest alive.
Meanwhile, this season, Man City’s Premier League home games have produced a league-high average of 2.2 goals per first half.
So we expect a high-scoring game at the Etihad, with over 2.5 goals a high possibility.
