Arsenal vs. Manchester City and Pick to Win
Date:Sunday, December 18th, 2016
Where: English Premier League Etihad Stadium, Clayton, Manchester, UK
by Keith, Professional Soccer/Football Handicapper, Predictem
Match Odds: Arsenal 21/10, Manchester City 123/100, Draw 11/4
Moneyline: Arsenal +210, Manchester City +123, Draw +275
Over/Under Best Market: UNDER 2.5 (13/10) +130
Once again yet another tale of two cities that jostle for football supremacy across all of EnglandManchester and London. Its the Gunners of Arsenal against the Citizens of Manchester City. The latest edition of this inter-city feud is set to take place Saturday at Etihad Stadium in the Clayton section of Manchester. This week features a battle of champions as no team two clubs have more FA Cup and English Premier League championships in the past five years than the Gunners of Arsenal and the Citizens of Manchester City.
Currently, Arsenal sits towards the top English Premier League table in the second position with 34 points. For the Mancunians, they stand in fourth with 30 points overall as this game potentially has a huge three point swing on the table for both sides. For Arsenal, a win establishes some distance between them and City allowing them to keep pace with Chelsea. For Man City, a win here gets them back in the title hunt for the English Premier League. Currently both teams would qualify for Champions League play in Europe. Manchester City was shocked on the road on the road at Leicester, last week when they fell by a score of 4-2. The defending English Premier League champions had ideas of doing what they do best, sneaking up on unsuspecting opposition and coming away with a win. Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy paved the way as he did in 2015 when the Foxes achieved an unprecedented feat of finishing atop the English Premier League table for the first time in club history. Furthering the narrative of getting off to a hot start, Manchester City continues to show signs of attrition. Since Manchester City took it to Barcelona, the Citizens have seemingly had to grind out every victory they acquired since then. Nevertheless the Citizens simply know how to generate offense when they need to. The captainship of Pep Guardiola has been instrumental in Manchester City getting off to an incendiary start where they are considered a viable candidate to still hoist the English Premier League hardware even if they have had troubles against Chelsea and even Burnley as of late.
Arsenal has an infamous docket on the road defeats as they have had faced peril against a variety of opponents ranging in class. Manchester Citys environment is one of the toughest to play in the world. Arsenal has been up-ended on several occasions away from London. Most notably in this campaign, this phenomenon was fostered at Southampton were they were blanked 0-2. The price here with Arsenal reflects their historic portfolio of performances on the road. Nevertheless, the Gunners have been in exquisite form barring their most recent setback against Everton. The Gunners have won four of their last five fixtures overall.
The last time Arsenal headed up to Manchester, they were lucky to get out of Old Trafford with a draw. Manchester United soundly dominated Arsenal throughout the span of the contest and fortunately for the Gunners, the game never got out of hand. A last minute theatrical goal by Arsenal allowed the Gunners the opportunity to escape with a point. However, Arsenal is likely facing the better team in the city of Manchester in this occasion. The price reflects Arsenals propensity for losing games on the road. Man City is a tough team to beat at home and as we saw last weekend with their cross-city rivals, if we can get this outfit at home at an above-even price we will opt in every time. In Over/Under Goal Markets we will go ahead and call for the UNDER 2.5 as scoring will likely be minimized despite the two sides being offensive oriented. We have come to find that going against expectation has yielded the most dividends in these Over/Under markets and without question, many are expecting a shootout here between the Gunners and Citizens. Ultimately here we stand to risk two units for the potential of picking up 2.53 units if both wagers land.
Arsenal Recent Form
L Everton 1-2
W Stoke City 3-1
W Basel 4-1
W West Ham United 5-1
L Southampton 0-2
Manchester City Recent Form
L Leicester City 2-4
D Celtic 1-1
L Chelsea 1-3
W Burnley 2-1
D Mglabach 1-1
Keith’s Prediction for the Game: MANCHESTER CITY 123/100 (+123) and UNDER 2.5 13/10 (+130)
