Arsenal vs Manchester City Prediction & Betting Tips - Premier League

Prediction published on 09/08/2018, 11:13  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 09/08/2018 at 12:14 in Premier League Predictions

Manchester City didn't field a full-strength team in the Community Shield but still had far too much for Chelsea and ran out comfortable winners.  They weren't too busy in the transfer window but considering the strength of their squad, they didn't really need to be. Riyad Mahrez has been their biggest signing at £60m and he's not even guaranteed a place in the first-team. City won the league title last season by 19 points and were just the 37 points ahead of the Gunners in sixth winning 13 more league games than them. Away form used to be a problem for City but not last season when they earned 50 points out of 57, sixteen more than any other side. If the title race is to be closer this season then teams have to be getting good results against them at home. City played Arsenal three times last season and won on each occasion scoring nine in total and conceding just once.

Unai Emery begins his Premier League career with Arsenal and couldn't have asked for a tougher task. He's made some good signings in the summer including Bernd Leno, Lucas Torreira and Stephen Lichtsteiner. Most likely not enough to get them into title contention but their key aim must be a top four finish to avoid a third season without Champions League football. Home form last season saw Arsenal with the second-best record in the division with 15 wins and their only two defeats came in games against the Manchester clubs. It's their away form that has to be sorted out with just 16 points from 19 games last season. This is usually a fixture that sees a few goals scored so go for over 2.5 goals to be scored in this match.