- Arsenal 4-1-1 in last six road matches
- City outscoring PL competiton 33-5 at home this season
- Man City took five of six points from Arsenal in 2012/13
(Watch live on NBCSN and online at 7am ET Saturday via NBC Sports Live Extra!)
Two massive clubs in good form face-off in a critical test to their title hopes as Manchester City hosts Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium early Saturday morning.
The Gunners’ five-point lead on second place Chelsea and Liverpool will be little consolation for their supporters going into the one place of solace for road-weary City. The Etihad has been a fortress against any squad not named Bayern Munich, the only club to take points (all three) there this season.
How good has City been at home? They’ve outscored competition both domestic and international by a 44-9 margin. You can choose whether these goal numbers are worse for Arsenal: 33-5 at home in Premier League play.
The match-up has been tight for the past few seasons, with Manchester City boasting three wins and two draws from their last six matches against Arsenal. Only one of those games has been decided by more than one goal, when Man City went into Emirates Stadium in January and walked out with a 2-0 win.
Mike Dean sent Laurent Koscielny off in the 9th minute and Edin Dzeko missed the penalty but later joined James Milner on the scoresheet before Vincent Kompany also red in the 75th. It’ll be Martin Atkinson presiding over Saturday’s match.
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What They’re Saying
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger on dealing with the congestion of European and PL fixtures: “To be completely honest, if you had given me the opportunity to do it I would not have done it like that, but I do not complain. That is not an excuse for us at all, we have the fixtures we have. It is another opportunity to show we have the mental strength to deal with it.”
MCFC manager Manuel Pellegrini on the importance of beating the table toppers:
“This is our opportunity to take three important points against the best team in the Premier League at the moment. For Arsenal and for our team, this is a very important game. They play one day after we did in the Champions League. Maybe our match was not exactly the same but I don’t think that will be an advantage or those things will decide the game. I think the way both teams will play will be more important.”
Prediction
Two tired teams may yield this fixture to depth and substitutions, but lost in Arsenal’s bevy of beautiful goals may be their defense. The Gunners have only conceded 11 goals in PL play this year, while Man City hasn’t scored less than two goals at home since May. Joe Prince-Wright pointed out that Wenger isn’t fearing the match-up, but I don’t look for that streak to end here. Look for the Citizens add some spice to the title hunt and inspire the Gallagher Brothers with a 2-1 victory.