PREMIER LEAGUE WEDNESDAY: The Striker looks ahead to the mouthwatering ARSENAL v MAN CITY on Wednesday with FACTMAN stats and a recommended BETDAQ bet.
ARSENAL V MANCHESTER CITY
7.30pm The Champions League may have returned this week, but all eyes will turn to London on Wednesday night for the biggest Premier League game of the season! This is an absolutely huge game in the battle for the title, and we have an open betting heat on BETDAQ Betting Exchange. Manchester City come into the game as favourites – the match odds market at the time of writing is currently trading; Arsenal 2.98, Manchester City 2.52 and the draw is 3.65.
Unfortunately for Arsenal, they dropped more points at the weekend with a 1-1 draw at home to Brentford. Arteta said afterwards that it was two points dropped, presumably because his feeling is his side should be beating Brentford with home advantage but they didn’t deserve to win the game. They conceded a higher xG figure than they created, and that was another very worrying performance after the Everton loss. Arsenal are now three games without a win when you include the loss to Manchester City in the FA Cup, and City will go top on goal difference if they win here.
The stakes couldn’t be higher, and it should make for fantastic viewing. City were pretty average in their last away game against Spurs when losing 1-0 – I know Spurs keep their best performances of the season for City for some reason, but City should have been able to create more. Another worrying thing from a City point of view is that they created their lowest xG figure of the season away to Manchester United before the Spurs game – so there are definitely questions coming into this clash. I feel the biggest question of all though is can Arsenal match the level of Manchester United and Spurs in City’s last two away games, when they haven’t been firing in their last two games?
I feel this game comes at an ideal time for City. Perhaps it can turn into an ideal time for Arsenal too if they win – that would be a massive confidence boost, and a boost they seemingly need as well in my opinion because there are definitely signs of feeling the pressure. They were completely outplayed by Everton and only managed an xG of 0.76, and Everton are in a relegation battle. To then follow that up with a sub-standard performance at home, again with a lower xG figure than Brentford, is a major red flag for me. Both times they conceded an xG figure of close to 2.0 too.
City had no troubles hammering Aston Villa at the weekend, they finished the game with an xG of 3.43 and their only worry was Haaland picking up an injury. He’s going to be a doubt coming into this game, and we might see some movement in the match odds market around the team news so keep an eye on that from a trading point of view. When I look at everything here, I feel it’s a perfect time to back City – Arsenal aren’t playing well at the moment and although City’s last two away games do worry me, I’m happy to just reduce stakes rather than not back them at 2.52. It was “only” the FA Cup, but that win, as I said at the time, was a big mental blow to Arsenal and with their form since this game is there for the taking for City. What a clash to enjoy though!
The Striker Says:
Three points win Manchester City to beat Arsenal at 2.52 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/ArsMci
FACTMAN MATCH STATS
● Arsenal have lost their last 10 Premier League games against Manchester City, their longest losing run against an opponent in their league history.
● Manchester City have won their last six away games against Arsenal in all competitions, as many as they had in their previous 61 visits to the Emirates/Highbury combined (D18 L37). No team has ever won seven consecutive away games against the Gunners before.
● Manchester City are the only side Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has failed to beat in the Premier League, losing all five of his meetings with them.
● Arsenal had a player sent off in both Premier League meetings with Manchester City last season (Granit Xhaka away, Gabriel home). Only against Newcastle between 2010 and 2011 have the Gunners had a red card in three consecutive Premier League games.
● Arsenal have lost their last eight Premier League games against reigning champions, conceding at least two goals each time (6 of those vs Manchester City). Their last such victory was a 1-0 win over Leicester in April 2017.
● Arsenal have named the same starting XI in each of their last six Premier League games – they’ve never done so in seven consecutive matches in the competition before.
● Arsenal have failed to win consecutive Premier League matches for the first time this season, losing 1-0 at Everton and drawing 1-1 against Brentford. However, they’re unbeaten in their last 13 home league games (W11 D2), last having a longer run without defeat at the Emirates between August 2018 and April 2019 (16).
● Manchester City have won each of their last 22 Premier League games on a Wednesday, the longest winning run on a specific day of the week in the competition’s history.
● Having lost just one Premier League away game between September 2021 and January this year, Man City have now lost their last two. They’ve only lost three in a row on the road once under Pep Guardiola, doing so in July 2020.
● Arsenal’s Leandro Trossard has already scored against Man City this season, netting in Brighton’s 3-1 defeat at the Etihad in October. Two players have scored against the Citizens for different clubs in the same Premier League campaign, with Andy Carroll (Liverpool & Newcastle) and Darren Bent (Aston Villa & Sunderland) both doing so in 2010-11.
