We have a bonus match in the Premier League on Thursday evening when the two sides who competed in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday do battle again but this time with league points up for grabs when Arsenal host Manchester City at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal were well beaten by City in the cup final at Wembley on Sunday and the fallout from that has been well documented so they will be eager to show their worth here. City are marching towards the title and can take another step to that with a win in London.
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Arsenal
You would have to say that the criticism and flack that has come the way of Arsenal since the cup final is deserved. They have been criticised a great deal over the last couple of seasons but this time you feel the performance, or lack of one, that they put in at Wembley is more significant and could have huge ramifications come the end of the campaign, or even sooner.
Clearly all is not well with Arsenal at the minute although it would be harsh to judge them on a beating by Manchester City. Everyone is taking them at the minute but this has been an inconsistent season and they go into the contest a full ten points behind their rivals Tottenham in the race for fourth place. That already looks beyond them and that will be all but confirmed with defeat here.
Manchester City
On the flip side of everything that is going on at Arsenal, Manchester City are absolutely flying at the minute and now that they have one trophy in the bank you would expect them to flourish even more with some of the pressure off. They will win the Premier League title this year. It is just a case of when and a victory here will see them move 16pts clear with just 10 matches left.
City have the luxury of knowing they dealt a psychological blow to Arsenal at Wembley at the weekend and although their form away from home has seen them drop seven points in their 13 matches they still have 10 wins from those games and have already been victorious at both Chelsea and Manchester United.
Team News
Henrikh Mkhitaryan was cup-tied for the defeat in the Carabao Cup final but he is available to return for this match. Nacho Monreal went off injured in the early stages of that game and could miss out too. Petr Cech should replace David Ospina in goal.
Manchester City will definitely be without Fernandinho who picked up an injury at Wembley and will miss here. Raheem Sterling is not fully fit yet and there will be no Fabian Delph who is suspended for the visitors. Ederson will come back in for Claudio Bravo between the sticks.
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Betting
I think based on what we saw at the weekend we have to expect goals in this match. City showed the potential to cut Arsenal open at will in that match and there is nothing that Arsenal have in reserve that is going to suddenly change that so you’ve got to think their back line will be under threat for much of the contest.
It might be, and perhaps should be, that the best form of defence for Arsenal is to attack. Liverpool showed that to be the case when they beat Manchester City earlier in the season and we saw it is what Arsenal do best when they beat Liverpool on this ground over Christmas. We saw three goals on Sunday which would have been more if City had wanted them. Arsenal have to show more in front of goal so I expect over 3 goals to land here.
Tips
PUSH – Back Over 3 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.78 with BetVictor
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