Man City Hope to Rewrite History against Arsenal
- By A.D. Winn on January 4, 2011 22:19 GMT
Title contenders Manchester City and Arsenal meet at the Emirates hoping to keep up pace with Premier League leaders Manchester United, with the Gunners currently priced as favourites.
Arsene Wenger’s men are 10/11 to pick up the victory against Roberto Mancini’s team, and have the record books on their side – City have not won away against the Gunners since 1975, which in all competitions totals 27 games. City are 3/1 to win, in a fixture where they have lost four out of the last five visits.
The Londoners are trailing City by two points albeit with a game in hand, and will likely continue with the same starting 11 that won convincingly away to relegation-battlers Birmingham. The only question marks will be over players who will be playing their fourth game in ten days, such as Bacary Sagna and Laurent Koscielny. Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia and defenders Abou Diaby and Thomas Vermaelen remain injured and unavailable.
Midfielder Jack Wilshere is having an impressive season so far for his club; the young Englishman will be hoping to impress his boss in this key match. Should he double his league goals for the season to two, odds of 4/1 can be found, however should his day be marred with controversy, odds of a red card are 28/1.
Mancini will go into the battle three points behind rivals United, who won 2-1 against Stoke on Tuesday. He will travel without key attackers in winger David Silva and striker Mario Balotelli, both of whom are carrying knee injuries.
Striker Edin Dzeko is yet to complete his long-awaited move to the Manchester club, so Carlos Tevez may play as a loan striker, as both Roque Santa Cruz and Emmanuel Adebayor look certain to leave the club this month. Tevez is priced at 6/4 to score, however pairing that with a 1-1 scoreline produces an interesting 16/1 price.
Both managers will be hoping to remain injury-free in such a crucial match, knowing they will both have matches over the weekend - Manchester City host former manager Sven Goran Eriksson’s new club Leicester City on Sunday in the FA Cup, whilst Arsenal will be welcoming Leeds in the same competition Saturday lunchtime.
Bet Highlight
Could go either way – a high-scoring, quick tempo 2-2 draw, or a 0-0 stalemate – both are priced at 12/1.
Premier League 09/10:
Arsenal 0-0 Man City
Man City 4-2 Arsenal
Premier League 10/11:
Man City 0-3 Arsenal
