Last Sunday was a potentially pivotal day in the English Premier League, with Liverpool overcoming a potential banana skin against Brighton and Arsenal travelling to Manchester to take on champions Manchester City – a match that ended goalless.
With all three teams so close together in points, we spoke to Bet9ja Ambassador Victor Ikpeba for his take on the match between Arsenal and Manchester City and the overall title race, along with his predictions for tonight’s English Premier League matches.
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This wasn’t a classic, but still very interesting from a tactical perspective!
Much like the match between Arsenal and Manchester City at The Emirates earlier this season, this was a match where both sides set up with a clear intention of giving nothing away without the opposition having to work very hard for it. Arsenal haven’t got a result at The Etihad Stadium in a long time and they were desperate to end this run.
Both sides set up with four centre-backs across the back four – this meant that they were both solid defensively, but were maybe lacking a bit when these players were in more advanced positions.
There were very few chances in this game, but still enough for each side to win the match. Ake could have scored in the first half, and Saka was unlucky that nobody got on the end of his cross. The biggest opportunity came towards the final whistle, where Leandro Trossard showcased some poor decision-making with Gabriel Martinelli in acres of space, choosing instead to shoot from an unfavourable angle.
Arsenal are a very solid outfit but lack a pure number nine!
William Saliba and Gabriel were both magnificent, as they have been in many big games this season. They limited Erling Haaland far better than they did last season and were focused for the entire 90 minutes.
Manchester City’s defence didn’t have a huge amount of work to do, but the handful of chances that Arsenal created could have easily seen them win the game if they had a centre forward with more killer instinct. I like Kai Havertz a lot but he is more of a facilitator than a goalscorer.
Victor’s Wednesday EPL picks
Arsenal vs Luton Town – Victor’s pick – 3-1
Booking code – 6FMFPW9
Brentford vs Brighton and Hove Albion – Victor’s pick – 2-1
Booking code – 6FMFRNC
Manchester City vs Aston Villa – Victor’s pick – 3-1
Booking code – 6FMFTPF
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