EPL Odds: Arsenal, City Fight to Keep Title Hopes Alive

Manchester City (+110) vs Arsenal (+230), Draw (+250)

Arsenal (10-4-2, 34 points) and Manchester City (10-3-3, 33 points) will both be fighting to keep their title dreams alive this Sunday, December 18, when they face each other at Etihad in the seventeenth round of the English Premier League.

Chelsea have managed to build a nice lead for themselves at the top of the table and they threaten to extend it this weekend when they take on a lowly Crystal Palace. After sixteen games, they lead third-place Arsenal by six points and  fourth-place Manchester City by seven. Neither team can afford another loss this weekend and allow Chelsea to slip even further away. Even a draw would be unwelcome.  In order to bridge the gap, they need to close out the week with a win.

Arsenal are coming off a disappointing 2-1 loss to Everton on Tuesday. After dominating the earlier parts of the game, the Arsenal side slowly started to unravel itself in typical Gunners fashion. They gave up a 1-0 lead and lost control of the game, ultimately giving up three points to an inferior side. It was only their second loss of the season and the first since their opening game against Liverpool.

Manchester City had a decent showing against Watford last match, grabbing a comfortable 2-0 win. They controlled possession throughout the game and smothered the Watford attack, denying them of any real chances to threaten the City goal.

Both teams will be fielding a less-than-perfect squad on Sunday. City will continue to be without key midfielder Fernandinho and star striker Sergio Aguero, both of whom are still facing suspension. And they will also be missing midfielder İlkay Gündoğan, who is out for at least a couple months due to knee ligament damage.

Still out for Arsenal is new defender Shkodran Mustafi, who will be benched for at least another game due to a hamstring injury. His absence in the Arsenal defense was felt during the loss against Everton. Along with Laurent Koscielny, Mustafi holds the Gunners’ back line together. If there’s something Arsenal doesn’t need, it’s an even weaker defense.

Arsenal and City are alike in many ways. They both play an attacking, possession-based game and they both have glaring weaknesses in defense. On paper, they are fairly evenly matched and, on Sunday, they will both be forced to replace some key players.

It’ll be the game to watch this weekend. Two world-class teams fighting to keep the title within reach. I foresee a draw that leaves both fanbases disappointed. 

Pick: Draw (+250)

Photo credit: “kevin de bruyne” by Christine Sanjaya CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Flickr.