Man City v Arsenal: Title Decider?

Karan Ahgun

ā€” 2 min read
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Man City v Arsenal: Title Decider?

Sunday's heavyweight clash between Man City and Arsenal is set to have a massive impact on where the Premier League title will land. Arsenal recent sloppy form has opened the door to Pep's side once again, and with their recent performances, City will be coming into this game with high confidence. So, will the result of this game tell us who will be this season's Premier League champions?

Going back to the Carabao Cup final, there was a feeling that the winner of the trophy would potentially win the league but at that point, Arsenal were 9 points ahead with one more game played. By the time the final whistle had gone, City had beaten Arsenal with relative ease and collected the first silverware of the season. Since then, both teams' performances have gone in opposite directions. For Arsenal, they have been drab and uncharacteristically leaky at the back, getting knocked out by Southampton in the FA Cup and losing to Bournemouth in the league last weekend. On the other hand, City have gone from strength to strength, beating Liverpool in the FA Cup and Chelsea in the league by large margins. As the teams prepare to clash on Sunday, Arsenal fans will be wondering whether their team will be able to withstand the pressure and come through a really tough test.

Arsenal's latest slump has seen an increase of fans putting pressure on Mikel Arteta. Under Arteta, Arsenal have been in a similar position twice before. On those previous occasions, the Gunners failed to get over the finishing line, and there are worries now that the same pattern might be occurring. In fact, a stat came out earlier this week showing that April is the worst month for Arteta in terms of his win percentage, which stands at just 42%. Arsenal have not been able to buck that trend this year as they have only won once, away at Sporting in the Champions League. Man City are the complete opposite. Under Pep, they have a 79% win record in April and are looking to continue that trend on Sunday. Key to City's victory will be the creative genius of Rayan Cherki. The French playmaker bagged two assists in the 3-0 win against Chelsea last weekend and is currently second in the Premier League assists table. Everything good has flowed through Cherki as of late, and with Arsenal looking particularly Cherki will be trying to exploit those gaps and provide the likes of Haaland, Semenyo and Doku with goalscoring chances.

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