City to put the final nail in Arsenal’s coffin
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Arsenal host Manchester City in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon in a match which is crucial to both team’s ambitions of finishing in the top for this season.
Having slipped out of both the Champions League and the Premier League top four in recent weeks, the pressure is on Arsene Wenger and his players to get a positive result in this match. Manchester City arrive at the Emirates Stadium knowing a win would increase the gap between themselves and Arsenal to 10 points, given them some breathing space over them going into the final months of the season.
Trends show Arsenal have lost four of their last five Premier League games. With defeats at home to Watford and away to Chelsea, Liverpool and West Bromwich Albion, Arsenal have fallen behind the other contenders for a top four place this season.
Many Arsenal fans consider finishing in the top four without winning a trophy a disappointing season but there is a risk they could miss out on both this time around. Following the 3-1 loss at Liverpool, Arsenal were humiliated at home in the Champions League by Pep Guardiola’s former team, Bayern Munich. The 5-1 defeat was a shocking result and it remains to be seen if the club have recovered from it.
Manchester City also suffered disappointment in the Champions League, allowing a two-goal lead to be overturned in Monaco. This led to many onlookers questioning the tactics of Guardiola and not for the first time this season.
However, trends in the Premier League show Manchester City are unbeaten in their last seven games. Having said that, the Citizens have struggled against decent opponents and were recently held at home by both Stoke City and Liverpool. Other dropped points away from home this season have come against Tottenham Hotspur, Leicester City and Everton.
Manchester City have showed signs of improvement defensively in recent weeks and trends show the have kept three cleans sheets in each of their last three away league games. Also, despite Arsenal’s overall form being poor, they still have a good record at home this season and that must be taken into account.
Since the opening day defeat at the hands of Liverpool, Arsenal have lost only one other home match this season, which was a recent 2-1 defeat to Watford. Scoring goals has not been a problem for Arsenal at the Emirates but they have conceded at least one goal in eight of their previous thirteen home Premier League games. This will give Guardiola confidence his team can score goals in this match.
Arsenal fans will be hoping the combination of playing at home and the fact they cannot afford to lose this match, will see the team throw everything at this game. However, Manchester City will be tough to beat and offer a huge threat going forward, which Arsenal will struggle to contain at times. Therefore, on balance, an exciting draw with both teams scoring, seems like a strong possibility.
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