A huge Monday night at The Emirates as Arsenal host Man City. Chris Graham (@chrisgraham79) takes a look at the odds for us.
Arsenal v Manchester City | Monday 20:00 | Sky Sports 1
Wow, what a fascinating match at such a brilliant time of the year. Just as the Christmas festivities really start to kick in attention focuses on the Emirates as Arsenal and Manchester City clash for the Christmas No.2 spot behind Leicester.
Despite not yet at the halfway point of the season this match has a real feeling of importance attached to it. A victory for the home side would put them four points clear of their opponents and seven ahead of the fourth place Tottenham. There would be a real foundation there for them to kick on into the second half of the season.
A win for Manchester City would steady a somewhat inconsistent ship and send out a big signal that when it really matters this side produce the goods.
My default position in a match of this significance is to take on Arsenal but perhaps the times are changing? Cast your mind back to January when Arsenal won at the Etihad, that was a big win at the time and although it was fruitless overall in the context of the season it painted the club in a new light.
From there they won a second consecutive FA Cup and managed to dig very deep to reach the Champions League knockout stage. There have been signs in 2015 that 2016 might just be Arsenal’s year.
I have to admit I’m still not a paid up member of that frame of mind yet and I’ll still be surprised if they win the title in May. I need more evidence before I commit to the thought of the Premier League trophy coming back to Islington.
Man City have been a nightmare to call this season. From winning their first five league games of the season they’ve hit a wall and stumbled to defeats against the likes of West Ham and Stoke and dropped points against bottom side Aston Villa.
They’ve looked like they should be long odds on for the title at some points and been incredibly meek in other matches this season. One thing’s for sure, there’s no way they’ve been a pal of the punter in 2015/16.
It’s hard to find much juice in these Win-Draw-Win prices to be honest. Arsenal at 29/20 feels short if like me you still feel there are psychological issues attached to the club when it really matters.
21/10 on Man City feels even worse value. This is a side who sit in the bottom half of the Away table this season and indeed haven’t won away from home in the league for over three months.
At 13/5 the draw appeals to me. As outlined above there are negatives on both sides and I get the feeling neither would be dispirited with a point. Arsenal drew at home to City, Chelsea and Tottenham last season and in this campaign have done the same against Liverpool and Tottenham.
I’ll back the draw and also have some interests in the 1-1 and 2-2 correct scores as I’m pretty sure goals will be on the menu on Monday night. Bring it on!
Best Bets
Arsenal v Manchester City – Draw (13/5 BetVictor)
Arsenal v Manchester City – 1-1 Draw (13/2 BetVictor)
Arsenal v Manchester City – 2-2 Draw (12/1 BetVictor)
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TOPICS Football Premier League Tips
