When it comes to games of the magnitude of the contest between Manchester City and Arsenal, fans and pundits alike love to chime in with their predictions.
Chris Sutton revealed that while he was “not exactly convinced” by City’s performances this season, he backed them to beat the Gunners 1-0 on Sunday.
It will be interesting to see which team comes out on top, considering Jamie Carragher believes the next “big rivalry” between managers in the Premier League will be between Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta.
Interestingly, Arsenal are yet to have won a game at the Etihad Stadium since 2015, when they beat Manchester City 2-0, courtesy of a Santi Cazorla penalty and an Olivier Giroud strike in a game that they utterly dominated.
Gabby Agbonlahor issues Manchester City-Arsenal prediction
The fact that both clubs have no players even in their squads from their respective lineups on the day is a testament to how far back the North Londoners’ win in the blue side of Manchester emerged.
Since then, the Sky Blues have dominated Arsenal, beating them by an aggregate score of 9-1 in their last two meetings at home in the Premier League.
However, it seems unlikely that Pep Guardiola’s men will simply batter Mikel Arteta and Co. in such a manner as they have in the past two seasons, with how closely-matched both teams are this time around.
But according to Gabby Agbonlahor, Manchester City will get the better of Arsenal in their upcoming meeting.
“Sunday at 4:30 (pm, GST), the biggest game of the weekend, if not the biggest game of the season, Manchester City versus Arsenal. Everyone’s going to stop what they’re doing to watch this game.”
“Kevin De Bruyne, [Erling] Haaland versus [Martin] Odegaard, [Bukayo] Saka. This is one of them games where I’m hoping it can also backfire but I’m hoping it’s end-to-end. I’m hoping both teams are going for the win”, he said on talkSPORT.
Agbonlahor concluded, “But I just can’t go against Manchester City, not lost I think in over 30 games at home, I’m going to go for a Man City win against Arsenal but a close win, a 2-1 and a Haaland winner.”
Realistic scoreline when it comes to Manchester City-Arsenal
Even if some think Arsenal will beat Manchester City, much like Gabby Agbonlahor, they would perhaps also predict the visitors to earn the three points after beating the hosts narrowly.
With how solid Arteta’s side are at the back coupled with how Guardiola’s side tends not to have a gung-ho approach themselves, it seems unlikely that one team will maul the other.
Furthermore, when games are of such importance, they tend to be quite cagey, especially in the first half.
However, the onus perhaps may be on City to take the game to Arsenal, seeing that they are playing at home and remain one point behind their title rivals in the league table.
