Arsenal VS Manchester City Match Prediction
2018-08-12
15:00:00
Arsenal
VS
Manchester City
Our Prediction Tip
Manchester City will win this match.
2018-08-1215:00:00 Manchester City will win this match.
Arsenal have won 96 of their 194 previous competitive meetings with Manchester City, but none last season – City winning all three games between the two. The first of those was a 3-1 win in the Premier League at the Etihad, where Kevin de Bruyne and Sergio Aguero’s penalty handed City a 2-0 lead and, after Alexandre Lacazette pulled one back, Gabriel Jesus sealed victory. In the Carabao Cup Final, Aguero scored again, and Vincent Kompany and David Silva secured a 3-0 win to earn Pep Guardiola his first trophy as City manager and, just a few days later, City won 3-0 again in the league – Silva scoring again, sandwiched by brilliant goals by Bernardo Silva and Leroy Sane. Here are the results of their last five matches:
Mar 01, 2018: Arsenal 0-3 Manchester City
Feb 25, 2018: Arsenal 0-3 Manchester City
Nov 05, 2017: Manchester City 3-1 Arsenal
Apr 23, 2017: Arsenal 2-1 Manchester City
Apr 02, 2017: Arsenal 2-2 Manchester City
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Arsenal have enjoyed a productive pre-season but Manchester City wasted no time stamping their mark when they welcomed back their first-team stars for the Community Shield.
A sign of their performance there, and their strength in depth, is that Kevin de Bruyne could be rested for the opening Premier League game despite being their Player of the Year last season.
This is a very different Arsenal team from the one City tore apart at Wembley and the Emirates twice in the space of a week last season, but that shows the gulf Unai Emery has to close this season.
Short of match fitness, City would have been underdogs for this one had it not been for their impressive Wembley showing – Chelsea managed just one shot on target against them.
And that was a Chelsea team, of course, who had drawn with Arsenal in Dublin just the previous week.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette have both been in the goals in pre-season, but Sergio Aguero was at the Community Shield too.
Aguero has scored eight of his 201 Manchester City goals against Arsenal, and also bagged two assists too, and the Gunners’ back line will have to do a significantly better job of dealing with him than they did at Wembley last year (and indeed, than Chelsea did at Wembley last week).
City may not be back to full strength, but they looked hugely impressive against Chelsea last time out and can start the new season with a win too.
Manchester City are favourites to beat Arsenal, but 10Bet are offering a best price of evens on the champions starting the new season with a victory. Given they are away from home, and short of match fitness, the safety net of a ‘draw no bet’ takes those odds down to 4/9 with Ladbrokes or 888sport.
Arsenal managed just one goal against City last season in three attempts, while City restricted Chelsea to just one shot on target last week. A City win to nil returns 16/5 with Ladbrokes.
Likewise, you can bet against both teams to score at 13/8 with Betfair.
Nevertheless, Arsenal – with a new manager and new players brought in to shore up the defence – will hope not to concede another three against City. Under 2.5 goals will return 6/4 with Betfair.
Sergio Aguero scored twice at Wembley and has eight goals against Arsenal in his City career. The Argentine striker is 15/14 with 888sport to score at any time.
Arsenal are a much-changed team from the one thrashed by City last season, but this is still a hugely difficult game for the Gunners given City's Community Shield performance last week.
Lucas Torreira and Stephan Lichsteiner both started for Arsenal against Lazio in their most recent friendly and could make their Arsenal debuts against Manchester City. Bernd Leno appears to have the edge in goal, meanwhile, and could also make his debut between the sticks. With Sokratis also expected to feature, that makes four debutants for Unai Emery’s first game in charge of Arsenal.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – Scored ten goals after his January arrival from Borussia Dortmund in just 13 Arsenal games last season.
Mesut Ozil – Has plenty to prove after falling out with the German national team, but he reached 50 Premier League assists in his Arsenal career (from 142 games) during last season.
Bernd Leno – If he makes his debut, he will be the man tasked with keeping Manchester City’s record-breaking attackers out.
Arsenal enjoyed a productive pre-season under Unai Emery, with a big clutch of first-team regulars available throughout the summer. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a 17-minute hat-trick as they kicked off with an 8-0 win at Boreham Wood, before they headed to Singapore. There, they drew 1-1 with Atletico Madrid but lost on penalties before bouncing back with a 5-1 thrashing of PSG – Alexandre Lacazette scoring two of those and Mesut Ozil another. A 1-1 draw with Chelsea in Dublin followed, thanks to Lacazette’s last-minute equaliser, and they went on to win on penalties. Last time out, they beat Lazio 2-0 with Reiss Nelson and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in the goals.
Kevin de Bruyne and Raheem Sterling were the last City players to return to pre-season training after the World Cup, and after City impressed without them against Chelsea in the Community Shield they make the take the chance to ease them back into action. The return to league action should mean a return for Ederson, while Pep Guardiola must decide whether to hand Phil Foden another start after his impressive Wembley showing, or start one of Ilkay Gundogan, David Silva or De Bruyne in the middle.
Bernardo Silva – Scored twice in City’s friendly against Bayern Munich and continued that impressive form at Wembley where he set up Sergio Aguero’s second.
Sergio Aguero – Scored twice on his return to action in the Community Shield – the first of which marked his 200th Manchester City goal.
Riyad Mahrez – Manchester City’s new record signing will hope to make an immediate impact after impressing in small spells during pre-season.
With a depleted squad, Manchester City’s pre-season tour started with two defeats – a 1-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund and a 2-1 defeat to Liverpool despite Leroy Sane’s opener. Against Bayern Munich, they were 2-0 down but stormed back through two Bernardo Silva goals and a Lukas Nmecha tap-in to win 3-2. And in the Community Shield, City – with several first-teamers back in action – comfortably beat Chelsea 2-0 thanks to Sergio Aguero’s double.
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