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Manchester City vs Arsenal: English Premier League live scores, blog

18th January, 2015
Kickoff: 03:00 AEDST, Monday January 19 2015
Venue: Etihad Stadium, Manchester
Head to Head: Played 186, Manchester City 49 wins, Arsenal 94 wins, 43 draws
Referee: Mike Dean
Betting: Manchester City $1.75, Draw $3.75, Arsenal $4.40
Broadcast: Fox Sports 4 (Live)

Last Five Meetings:
Arsenal 2-2 Manchester City (English Premier League – 13/09/14 – Emirates Stadium)
Arsenal 3-0 Manchester City (English Community Shield – 10/08/14 – Wembley Stadium)
Arsenal 1-1 Manchester City (English Premier League – 29/03/14 – Emirates Stadium)
Manchester City 6-3 Arsenal (English Premier League – 14/12/13 – Etihad Stadium)
Arsenal 0-2 Manchester City (English Premier League – 13/01/13 – Emirates Stadium)
Manchester City's Sergio Aguero has continued his incredible run of form. (AFP PHOTO / IAN MACNICOL)
Roar Guru
18th January, 2015
51
1008 Reads

Manchester City will be fighting to stay in touch at the top of the Premier League, as they face Arsenal at home in the Etihad Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 2.45am on Monday morning.

Having worked so arduously to cut down Chelsea’s ominous lead in December, Manchester City handed back the initiative to their London rivals following their draw at Everton last week.

Chelsea has since rebuilt their five point lead – a prospect that once again forces City to play catch up. With extra commitments via the FA Cup and Champions League to come in February, the champions will dearly need to overcome the deficit soon – starting against Arsenal.

The overall record between these two sides is no indication of shifting paradigms. Aside from suffering a 3-0 thumping in this year’s Community Shield with a spare parts side, Manchester City have enjoyed a thorough ascendancy over Arsenal in recent times. While much of it is courtesy of the Abu Dhabi Group, another factor is the way City has plundered Arsenal’s resources since 2008.

Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping for a reaction from his players after last week’s draw at Goodison Park, and is likely to enforce changes to a team that looked too vulnerable to the counterattack. This is despite fielding a team with Brazilian duo Fernandinho and Fernando.

Both may be jettisoned, as Pellegrini will likely to turn to the reliable James Milner to control Arsenal’s midfield. Greater focus will be spent on spreading Arsenal’s suspect defence via the midfield, making Samir Nasri a key component to the City game plan. In defence, it is unlikely neither of the former Gunners in Bacary Sagna nor Gael Clichy will feature against their former club.

For Arsenal, the fight to secure a top four spot represents the realism of today – in stark contrast to their opponents. The days of yore when Arsene Wenger could combine an artistic attacking combination alongside a defensively solid back four is an uncomfortable notion of the past.

Don’t let a last start 3-0 home win against Stoke City tell you otherwise. This is a team that shipped plenty of goals at the likes of Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool last season – all teams they would claim to stand at least on par with.

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If David Silva is Manchester City’s artisan, then see Alexis Sanchez for Arsenal. Little of Arsenal’s struggles can be attributed to the Chilean, who represents the Gunners’ biggest threat to the home side. A double against the Potters last week takes his season tally to 12 – already a fine return on the 30 million pound investment Arsene Wenger paid for him.

Yet he has regularly lacked support from his comrades in the forward lines – Danny Welbeck has been sporadic at best, while Mesut Oezil continues to disappoint in a red shirt.

Much will come down to the mental approach from Arsenal. Do they believe they can win away at their main rivals’ homesteads? Either way, the game either promises a tight arm wrestle or a flurry of home side goals.

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