Manchester City will be looking to take another huge step towards the Premier League title this Sunday when they take on Arsenal. Pep Guardiola’s men seem unstoppable at the minute and it’s not surprising to see that a City victory is the go-to bet in Betfair’s Football…Only Bettor podcast.
Speaking about this upcoming fixture on the podcast, Mark Stinchcombe said: “Man City to win and under 4.5 goals at 8/11. I won’t wax too long about Man City. I think everyone is fairly aware they’ve won their last 17 games. They’ve conceded just six goals. In the Premier League it’s 14 out of 16 wins; keeping clean sheets in 12 of them. This bet would have won in 11 of those.
“Overall they’ve won 29 games this season in all competitions and this bet would have won in 25 of them. I think we mentioned before that their attacking output has not been as crazy as previous seasons. That’s probably due to the fact that the schedule is a bit more condensed and they actually wanted to sure up defensively, which they have proven.
“Their expected goals per game offensively has decreased by 25 per cent but defensively they’ve improved by 20 per cent. It seems to have been a good trade-off. I don’t worry about them finding the back of the net. They’ve pretty much got a fully fit team now with De Bruyne and Aguero back on the bench.
“They don’t seem to have too much of an issue against Arsenal except that FA Cup semi-final defeat last season. City have won nine of the last ten by an aggregate score of 25 goals to five. This bet would have won in eight of those nine games.
“Arsenal have got one day less rest after a tough game against Benfica. I don’t see any problem with backing Man City here and under five goals.”
Mark O’Haire looked at the fixture from Arsenal’s point of view but he too is backing City to win.
He said: “From an Arsenal perspective, I thought they were really good for large parts of that game against Leeds last weekend. I know Leeds didn’t exactly help their cause in the first 45 minutes but I really enjoyed the XI that Arteta selected, really enjoyed how they went about their business.
“I really enjoyed how they played against Wolves and Aston Villa despite not getting the results they probably deserved in those games.
“In terms of progress over the last eight to 12 games you can definitely say they’re going in the right direction. I just wonder whether Arteta is going to put the breaks on going into this game.
“It would be kind of foolish to try and play City at their own game. They’ve played four times against the top three this season and they’ve produced a grand total of three goals; Arsenal scoring just once themselves.
“They can’t really be too accommodative to City. I do expect City to monopolise possession and do enough when going forward.”
You can hear more tips and more insight from both Marks and Kevin Hatchard on the latest edition of Betfair’s Football…Only Bettor podcast.
Odds correct at the time of publication. 18+ Please Gamble Responsibly. Visit begambleaware.org
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