Premier League: Manchester City vs Arsenal preview

Dec 13, 2013
Premier League: Manchester City vs Arsenal preview
League leaders Arsenal will face a major test this Saturday as they travel to meet Manchester City. The Citizens have been impressive at Etihad Stadium this season, winning all seven Premier League home games and scoring no less than 29 goals in those fixtures. Manuel Pellegrini's men have only conceded two goals at home in the Premier League and will be full of confidence after securing a spectacular 3-2 win at Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Arsenal are five points clear at the top of the Premier League, an advantage that could have been even bigger if they wouldn't have conceded a late equaliser against Everton last weekend. But Arsenal then suffered their first loss in seven games when Napoli beat them 2-0 in the Champions League, a defeat that didn't prevent the Gunners from advancing to the last 16 of the Champions League for the 14th season in a row. Wenger has urged his players to put that defeat behind them and concentrate on the battle for the Premier League title. "We have done our job now we will give absolutely everything on Saturday morning," said Wenger. "We will see what comes out of the draw and will assess that in February, because a lot can change on both sides, on us and the team we play against, so we need to put that to the back of our minds now and focus on the championship." Arsenal have lost just one away game in the Premier League this season, a 1-0 defeat at Manchester United in November. Lukas Podolski could make a return to the squad after being sidelined since August with a hamstring injury, but Bacary Sagna will surely be unavailable for the game. Aaron Ramsey will be expected to return to the starting line-up after being rested on the bench against Napoli. Manchester City will miss Micah Richards who sustained a hamstring injury against Bayern while former Arsenal full-back Gael Clichy is a doubt. It's also interesting to see if Pellegrini will decide to give England goalkeeper Joe Hart another chance in the Premier League or keep faith with Costel Pantilimon. Here are the odds for the big match at Bet365: Manchester City win - 5/6 Draw - 11/4 Arsenal win - 15/4
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