English Premier
2009-09-12 - Manchester City vs Arsenal
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: England, Premier League 2009/2010
Saturday, 12th September 2009 - Kickoff 15:00
Manchester City
Surprisingly none of the major English football TV providers have picked up this game between a side aiming to get into the top 4 against the one that was considered most likely to drop out of the top 4.
Manchester City have made their millions spent in the Summer market count so far with only wins coming from their games. Expectations are beginning to grow through the roof amongst the blue half of Manchester and a real title challenge is being whispered about.
City are up in 4th place, level on points with local rivals Manchester United, and one of only three teams with a 100% record. They have moved on to the Carling Cup 3rd round and are 3-0-0 in the Premier League with 4 goals scored and 0 conceded. City won their only home game 1-0 over Wolves.
Carlos Tevez is out for this game after picking up a knock playing for Argentina against Brazil and he is in a race against time to play in the Derby next week. Roque Santa Cruz is still out but both Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor will start against their former club.
Arsenal
Arsenal had a bad week before the international break with Eduardo being banned by UEFA for diving in a game against Celtic and then losing their first game of the season at Old Trafford. However, their performance has fuelled hope that their players are finally reaching the heights that Arsene Wenger has been promising.
The Gunners are 6th in the table having played a game less than most in compiling a 2-0-1 record with 11 goals scored and 4 conceded. They have also managed to knock Celtic out of the Champions League in that time 5-1 on aggregate. This will be their 3rd away Premier League game and they are 1-0-1 away from home. Arsenal have scored 7 and conceded 3 in those 2 games.
Tomas Rosicky has played a reserve game as he bids to return to the first team. Andrey Arshavin does miss out with a knock from international duty and Samir Nasri is a long term absentee. Cesc Fabregas is due to start after scoring for Spain in midweek.
Head to Head
Arsenal do normally get the better of City whenever they play, winning 6 of the last 8 Premier League games between the sides. However, it has been getting a little harder for them in their visits to Manchester.
Manchester City have won 2 of their last 3 games at the City of Manchester Stadium against Arsenal.
The last 10 matches in Manchester between these sides in the League has always seen a winner- Arsenal 8 times and City 2 times.
There have been 8 Premier League matches between the sides since there was a draw.
Prediction
Manchester City will look to use this game as a marker for their intentions for the season and also to keep momentum for the game against United next week at Old Trafford. They have a strong squad but it will be a real test to see how they respond against a side that is willing and capable of keeping a lot of possession.
Arsenal will be hoping to bounce back from their defeat in this city last time out and I am sure they will want to give City their first serious test of the season. The loss of Arshavin will be felt.
I think this is going to be an intriguing encounter between 2 sides who many predicted would be going in opposite directions this season. I am finding it hard to separate them and will go for a scoring draw.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Manchester City 1-1 Arsenal
