[Pre-Match Thread] Arsenal vs Man City | 2nd February 2025 | Premier League
🕟 Kick Off: 16:30 GMT
📍 Location: Emirates Stadium, North London
📺 UK Broadcaster: Sky Sports
🙎🏻♂️ Referee: Peter Bankes
🔴 Arsenal Team News:
- Raya missed the Girona game through suspected illness. He will likely be available for this game.
- Ben White (knee) is recovering from surgery and has returned to on-grass training.
- Jesus has torn his ACL and will be out for up to a year.
- Saka (hamstring) is recovering from surgery and will be out for the next few months.
- Tomiyasu (knee) is an enigma and we haven’t received an update on him for weeks.
⚽ Arsenal Form: 🟩🟩🟩🟧🟩
🛢️ Man City Team News:
- Bobb is out with a broken leg.
- Ake is absent with a muscular injury.
- Dias misses the game through a groin injury.
- Rodri has an ACL injury and is out for the season.
- Doku has some physical discomfort and will miss the game.
⚽ Man City Form: 🟩🟩🟥🟩🟧
⚔️ Head-to-Head:
- Man City 2-2 Arsenal (22nd Sept 2024, Premier League)
- Man City 0-0 Arsenal (31st Mar 2024, Premier League)
- Arsenal 1-0 Man City (8th Oct 2023, Premier League)
- Man City 1-1 Arsenal (1-4 pen.) (6th Aug 2023, Community Shield)
- Man City 4-1 Arsenal (26th Apr 2023, Premier League)
📖 Match Facts:
- Arsenal have beaten City once in their last 8 home league games against Man City. Their last win at home was in 2023, and you have to go back to December 2015 to find the previous home win against City.
- Arsenal haven’t scored more than 2 goals at the Emirates against City since August 2014.
- City concede the 7th least goals per match in the league this season at 1.3, compared to Arsenal who concede the least at 0.9 goals per match.
🎲 Odds (Betway):
- Arsenal – 19/20
- Draw – 5/2
- Man City – 14/5
✍🏼 Pre-Match Ramblings
This fixture has become very heated as of late, you only have to go back to the reverse fixture this season to see this in action. Haaland had his infamous “Stay humble” outburst at Arteta when the Gunners were narrowly held to a draw at the Etihad, with thanks to a certain Michael Oliver who sent off Trossard for kicking the ball away. It took a 90’+8 winner from John Stones to rescure a point for City at the Etihad, a result which was undeserving of the defensive performance displayed by Arsenal with 10 men for 45 minutes.
Vengeance is on the cards for Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal tomorrow who will be looking to achieve only their second home win in the league against Mikel’s former club since he took charge of Arsenal.
Man City seem to be finding some form again after a horrific run of losses and draws seeing them plummet into a Top 4 battle. They narrowly made it into the knockouts of the UCL midweek with a comeback at home against Club Brugge; this is a team that has shown that it can bleed this season.
Sunday is an excellent chance for Arsenal to maintain their strong league form – you have to go back to the 2nd of November at St James Park to find Arsenal’s last league loss. This is a shocking statistic given our position in the title race and general mood across the club, made worse by our inactivty in the transfer market despite a gaping hole in our attack with the loss of both Saka and Jesus to injury.