Prediction & odds for the game: Arsenal (4/1) v Manchester City (3/5) – ST is backing the away win

When: Tuesday, 22nd December @ 8pm K.O

Where: Emirates Stadium

Arsenal and Manchester City will battle for a place in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup when they meet at the Emirates on Tuesday night.

Arsenal

The overwhelming belief right now is that Mikel Arteta is on borrowed time as Arsenal manager and it’s really difficult to see another way around that theory. He may be young and the board may think they’re behind him 100%, but right now, the Gunners are in a position whereby it’s not unthinkable to believe they are legitimately in a relegation battle. If they want to raise morale, they need to win one of their next two games.

Wins over Dundalk and Rapid Wien in the Europa League simply haven’t been enough to gloss over the struggles that Arsenal have endured domestically. They lost the North London derby to Tottenham, they were edged out by Burnley, they drew 1-1 with Southampton and then proceeded to drop a 2-1 loss to Everton.

Manchester City

Pep Guardiola is probably praying that he will be given the chance to sign Lionel Messi next summer, because within his current crop of stars, it seems as if there is a sense of inconsistency that has been built into the foundation of the squad. Pep is a good enough manager to turn this ship around but at the bare minimum, they have to be seen as the nearest challengers to Liverpool in the title race between now and May.

While City look tight enough at the back, draws against Porto, Manchester United and particularly West Brom have raised questions about their supposedly phenomenal attacking options. They did manage to beat Marseille, Fulham and Southampton this month, but only the latter of those wins was viewed as impressive.

Conclusion

We really do think Arsenal are going to give as good as they get in this game because while they’ve been struggling in the Premier League, they do have a tendency to turn up the intensity in cup competitions. City, however, are experts in winning the League Cup and we don’t think they’ll want to drop their guard here – because if nothing else, winning this competition can be a serious confidence booster heading into the rest of the campaign. For that reason, we’re backing a Manchester City victory.

Our scoreline prediction is somewhat adventurous at 4-2, which will ensure we hit the over 2.5 goals marker. Arsenal are going to give City a bloody nose, and that may be the only thing that keeps Arteta in the job if they do slump to another defeat.

Verdict: Back the away win at odds of 3/5 and the over 2.5 goals scored at odds of 4/7 (All odds are taken from bet365).

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If you want to bet on Arsenal vs Manchester City then head on over to the betting page. Alternatively, you can check out some of the other available fixtures at the soccer predictions page as we push towards the final of this year’s Carabao Cup.