Sports Blog 01/03/2018: Premier League Preview – Arsenal vs Manchester City, Thursday 1st March 2018

Can Arsenal pull out of their current nosedive by beating Man City, at 7.45pm on Sky Sports?

All is not well at the Emirates. And though it could be argued that has been the case for a while now, there is no doubt that Arsenal feel like they are going through a very pronounced crisis at the moment.



It’s not just last weekend’s 3-0 loss to Man City in the EFL Cup, even though that result did provide a lightning rod for the current ‘Wenger out’ calls. No, that’s merely the tip of the iceberg. Arsenal have won just 8 games in their last 21 games in all competitions, including that FA Cup 3rd round exit at the hands of Nottingham Forest and a 2nd leg loss to Ostersunds in the Europe League. They haven’t managed to keep a clean sheet in the league since December 16th – that’s 9 games in a row – and sit 10 points outside the top 4 in 6th place (admittedly with a game in hand, but still).

It also hasn’t been the best introduction to North London for Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, both of whom may be regretting their January transfers. Nevertheless, the former heads into Thursday night at a Super Mega PGM of 14-18 while the latter is at 32-38.

Needless to say, Man City are in a very different state of mind. Pep Guardiola has finally picked up his first piece of English silverware on Sunday and, with City holding a 13 points lead at the top of the Premier League table, the Spaniard can at the very least expect to add one more trophy by the end of the season. That’s not to mention the fact they are favourites to win the Champions League, with fixed odds of 3/1 and an Outright Index spread of 56-59.

While Thursday’s game could see City extend their league lead to 16 points, it could be important for a different reason. Sergio Aguero is one goal away from tallying 200 for the Sky Blues, and at a Super Mega PGM of 58-68 he could well reach that landmark at the Emirates. And while Raheem Sterling is out, Gabriel Jesus, at a spread of 42-49, will be looking for a bit more game time after returning for the final few minutes of the EFL Cup final.

Given how fraught things are at the Emirates it’s hard to see Thursday’s game going any but one way, with Spreadex offering a Manchester City/Arsenal (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0.65-0.85 alongside a Total Goals spread of 3.2-3.4.