Former Chelsea and Celtic forward Chris Sutton has predicted Manchester City will beat Premier League title contenders Arsenal in their meeting this weekend. Sutton thinks City will claim a 2-1 win over the Gunners.
Manchester City and Arsenal are arguably the two best teams in England right now. Pep Guardiola has turned the Cityzens into an all-conquering machine, taking them to a historic Treble in the 2022-23 season. Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, has yet to win a major trophy with the North Londoners, but his team has been consistently giving City a run for their money.
Winning all four of their Premier League matches so far, Man City find themselves at the top of the rankings. Arsenal, meanwhile, are sitting just two points behind in second place (3 W, 1 D).
Chris Sutton Thinks Manchester City Will Prevail Against Arsenal
Discussing the clash between Man City and Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, September 22, Sutton wrote in his BBC column:
“Arsenal got a lot of praise for the way they shut out City here for a draw last season, but they then lost the title race by two points. Of course that left them open to anyone who wanted to be ‘Captain Hindsight’ – like I did when I turned the result around and used it to question the Gunners.
“Yes, that criticism was harsh but we are talking about the fine margins between finishing first and second. Inter Milan showed on Wednesday that you can hurt City at the same time as keeping them quiet, and they were very brave with the way they were playing out. They surprised me actually, because they beat City’s press very easily.”
He added:
“I don’t like to back against Arsenal because, defensively, they are so strong. They have also won all but one of their 11 away Premier League games in 2024 – the exception being that draw at the Etihad in March – and have kept nine clean sheets That is incredible and, if they wanted to, they could cause City problems on the counter-attack too, the same way Inter did.
“I was at that game and thought City were well below their best. Erling Haaland was quiet and Kevin de Bruyne might not be fit to face the Gunners after getting injured before half-time. Still, it is almost two years since City failed to score in two successive games – October 2022, when they drew 0-0 in Copenhagen in the Champions League and then lost at Anfield in the Premier League. I am expecting a reaction, and I don’t think they will be as flat as they were on Wednesday.”
Sutton’s prediction: Man City 2-1 Arsenal
Arsenal and Man City have battled it out in 211 matches so far. The former has won 99, the latter 65, while the remaining 47 games ended all square.
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