Man City v Arsenal: Betting Preview

Man City v Arsenal

Arsenal’s youngsters can buck the odds as the Gunners return to the Eastlands with revenge in mind. Betfair’s Joe Dyer looks at the betting ahead of Wednesday night’s Carling Cup quarter-final

The second night of Carling Cup action brings a fixture to whet the appetite of English football lovers.

Ever since Manchester City’s controversial 4-2 defeat of Arsenal back in September punters have been looking forward to the next clash between the two and Gunners staff, fans and management will be aching for revenge over the Premier League’s latest money men and Emmanuel Adebayor in particular.

The Togolese striker is the latest hate figure in N7 after following up a sulky final season at the Emirates with a supremely arrogant display at Eastlands. Adebayor stained his reputation for good that afternoon with a length of the field goal celebration in front of the travelling support and an assault of the face of former team-mate Robin van Persie.

That display saw the 25-year-old banned for three matches and he’s yet to recover the fine form of the season’s early games. Indeed, City have suffered following that tumultuous afternoon with just one Premier League win to their name. Perhaps Arsenal’s return will fire them back into form?

Both teams come into the fixture on the back of dispiriting results. City have famously drawn seven of their last eight fixtures – a run broken by a sole win in the Carling Cup at the expense of Scunthorpe – while Arsenal were flying along until consecutive league defeats at Sunderland and at home to London rivals Chelsea just as their title chase looked to be gaining real momentum.

Arsene Wenger has always treated the Carling Cup as a testing ground for the latest youth team graduates and will do so again on Wednesday with Jack Wilshere, Aaron Ramsey and Sanchez Watt likely to feature. By contrast, Mark Hughes will field the strongest team available.

And that explains the reasoning behind the current match odds where Betfair customers make City the 1.98 favourites with Arsenal 4.2 for the 90-minute win and the draw backable at 3.9.

But should Arsenal youth really be that long in the betting? Recent vintages have performed with aplomb in the last few years; reaching the 2006/07 final, the semis the year after, but going out at Burnley last season. Stiffer tests have been conquered than a Manchester City in malaise and I’m laying the home team at 1.98 to suffer another game without winning.

Away from the match odds, goals look a certainty. But rather than get involved in a cramped overs/unders market I will look to lay a City clean sheet at the current 2.26. After feasting on goals, the Emirates larder has looked a little empty following two successive blanks against Sunderland and Chelsea, but the Gunners are still one of the most potent teams in English football and can beat Shay Given on at least one occasion.

Reproduced with permission from betting.Betfair.com. © The Sporting Exchange Limited

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