18th Jan 2015 | Premier League
Same Old Arsene
Arsenal have one way of approaching big away matches and it's a failing strategy.
I think we can be pretty sure by now. Arsene Wenger is never going to change his footballing philosophy. Arsenal lost this fixture 6-3 last term, followed by a 5-1 hammering at Liverpool and a 6-0 drubbing at Chelsea. Other managers would therefore ‘park the bus’ at the Etihad today - not Wenger.
The Frenchman will always send his side out to attack the opposition and unfortunately recent history suggests the Gunners will typically lose these heavyweight bouts, particularly on the road. Therefore we should back Man City to win this game but with both teams to score at a best price of 21/10 (Boylesports).
The champions are 14 matches unbeaten in all competitions and recently dropped points probably wouldn’t have occurred with Aguero and Kompany on the pitch. Both should start today and the hosts should win accordingly.
But I doubt they will do so with a clean sheet, something they haven’t mustered for five matches across all competitions. Arsenal have scored in 27 of 31 fixtures across all competitions so this bet makes sense.
Odds correct at time of publishing: 11:42 18th Jan, 2015 but subject to change
