Manchester City vs. Arsenal Soccer Lines & Game Preview – March 1st

Arsenal have already taken on Manchester City in London once this week, as the two sides tangled at Wembley Stadium on Sunday in the Carabao Cup final. Arsenal had hoped to take advantage from some slack play from City — as well as their own solid record in tournament finals — but they were unable to do much at all, either to stop City or advance their own cause, and City ended up taking the cup with a 3-0 drubbing. However, Arsenal have just lost once in their last 20 matches at home in Premier League play, so they look to reverse the outcome from Sunday — as well as the outcome from November, when City delivered a 3-1 win in the reverse fixture up in Manchester. Check out our soccer lines preview for this EPL matchup.

Manchester City vs. Arsenal Soccer Lines & Game Preview – March 1st

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— Arsenal FC (@Arsenal) February 28, 2018

When: Thursday, March 1, 2018, 2:45pm ET Where: Emirates Stadium, London TV: NBC Sports Radio: None Live Stream: NBCSports.com Soccer Lines: Manchester City 3/4, Draw 3/1, Arsenal 10/3

Why should you bet on Arsenal?

Arsenal are in a bit of a tailspin right now. In addition to that disappointment on Sunday, their Premier League fortunes have been negative lately, as they have fallen to Tottenham Hotspur and Swansea City. They still have Nacho Monreal (back), Santi Cazorla (plantar fasciitis) and Alexandre Lacazette (knee) on the shelf. The team need a big win, though, as they are eight points behind Chelsea in sixth position in the EPL table. Arsenal do get the good news of Henrikh Mkhitaryan returning to the lineup; he had been cup-tied and therefore unavailable for the Carabao Cup final. Also, Manchester City will be without the services of Fernandinho (hamstring), so their offense will be somewhat slowed. If you like the Gunners in this one, you see them coming out with a lot more energy and authority than they have as of late, and you see their talented but (recently) ineffective offense making some headway against City — and you also see City perhaps a little fatigued after the final on Sunday and perhaps also looking ahead to their match with Chelsea, which looms ahead this coming Sunday.

Why should you put your money on Manchester City?

Arsenal have lost four of their last six fixtures and 10 of their last 15. Manchester City have won 29 of their last 35 league fixtures, losing just one of those along the way. Vincent Kompany returned on Sunday and tallied a goal in the Carabao Cup final. He will likely come off the bench on Thursday as a precautionary measure, so that he does not return from injury too aggressively, but having him as a potential weapon waiting to substitute in bolsters the City offense. Raheem Sterling (hamstring) could return as well but remains questionable. If you like City in this matchup, the value here (3-4 odds) is actually fairly solid. Arsenal has not played well in several weeks now, and if City can keep their offensive firepower going, they should be able to overwhelm the Gunners once again. On Sunday, it was a long ball from City goalkeeper Claudio Bravo that mystified Shkodran Mustafi, leaving Sergio Aguero to start the scoring. That lack of focus could doom Arsenal again and lead to another big City win.

Expert Pick and Final Score Prediction

Personally, I like the value that the 3-4 odds on a City win offer. Arsenal have struggled on both ends of the pitch since the calendar turned to 2018, and a slide to sixth place could easily keep going for the Gunners, unless Arsene Wenger can find a way to get the attention of his men. In this game, I predict a final score of Manchester City 3, Arsenal 1, with City picking up their 30th win in their last 36th EPL fixtures.