With Leicester already winning the English Premier League, the most attractive game this weekend is the Manchester City vs Arsenal clash at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester this Sunday, May 8th. Both teams are trying to hang onto their top-four positions to make sure they qualify for the 2016/17 European Champions League. Man City was just knocked out of this year’s tournament with a 1-0 aggregate loss to Spanish La Liga giants Real Madrid on Wednesday while Arsenal’s last match was a 1-0 home win over Norwich City. Man City was also beaten 4-2 down in Southampton last weekend in their last Premier League match.
Bet on Manchester City vs Arsenal – Pinnacle SOCCER BETTING LINE:
- Pinnacle lists Man City as the current favorites at +150 with Arsenal +195 and a draw at +255
Manchester City vs Arsenal – Head to Head:
- The two sides met at the Emirates in London in December with Arsenal taking all three points with a 2-1 victory. Arsenal beat Man City 2-0 in Manchester last season and drew 2-2 at home. Arsenal has beaten City 23 times in the Premier League era. Overall, these two sides have met 187 times in the past with Arsenal winning 95, losing 49 and drawing the other 43.
Arsenal enters the game in third place in the standings with 67 points from 19 wins, 10 draws and seven losses. They’ve scored 59 goals and allowed 34against. On the road, they have eight wins, six draws and two losses with 32 goals scored and 23 allowed. Arsenal has eight clean sheets away from home this season and has been shut out four times. Overall, they’ve posted 17 shutouts and have failed to score on eight occasions. The Gunners have two wins, a loss and three draws on their last six road trips.
Man City enters the match in fourth place with 64 points from 19 victories, seven draws and 10 defeats. They’ve scored a league-high 68 times and allowed 38 goals against. City has 12 wins, one draw and five defeats at home this campaign with 45 goals scored and 19 allowed. They’ve posted six clean sheets at the Etihad this season and have been shut out just twice. Overall, they’ve shut the opposition out 16 times and have failed to score themselves on eight occasions. City has just three wins and three losses in their past six home outings.
Both of these teams have just two games remaining in the season which means either of them can be caught by Manchester United, who have a game in hand on them. Arsenal has a seven-point lead on United while City is three up on their cross town rivals. West Ham is one points back of United and could also catch either City or Arsenal as they have three games to go as well. This makes the City vs Arsenal game this weekend a crucial one for all teams involved and somebody has to drop points in the contest, much to the delight of West Ham and Man United. Arsenal will meet last-place Aston Villa in their season finale. They go into this game with three straight clean sheets and three draws in their past five outings as well as just one loss on their last eight road trips with five draws. Man City will finish their season with a visit to Swansea City next weekend.
A win for Arsenal will guarantee a top-four finish, but they’ll be without Per Mertesacker and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on Sunday while Santi Cazorla may be back in the squad after five months on the shelf. Man City will likely be without skipper Vincent Kompany as well as David Silva, Pablo Zabaleta and Aleksandar Kolarov.