IT'S the match that English football has been waiting for all season…champions Manchester City host leaders Arsenal in one of the most eagerly-anticipated league showdowns for years.
And the bad news for the Gunners is that one of those teams appears to be hitting top form while the other is wilting.
Manchester City have kept on chipping away at an Arsenal lead that looked like it could reach uncatchable levels not so long ago and the gap is currently five points so the visitors will remain at the top whatever happens on Wednesday.
But Pep Guardiola's side have two games in hand too and look to have the easier run-in with games to come against the likes of Fulham, West Ham, Leeds and Everton next up. Arsenal have still to go to Newcastle United too.
But ominously, it's the way both teams are performing approaching the business end of the season.
While City's bloodless FA Cup semi-final success over Sheffield United was their 11th win in 12 games, with a draw at Bayern Munich when they had almost already qualified their only blemish, Arsenal are getting very careless indeed.
Although they snatched a point with two late goals on Friday night, going 3-1 down at home to Southampton is unacceptable when you're challenging for a title. It was their third draw in a row and they've twice thrown away two-goal leads.
How the bookies view it
Any hopes of Manchester City being close to evens have vanished with recent form and the best you can get now is 4/7 with Coral and even that could shorten.
Arsenal can be backed at 19/4 with bet365 and the draw is also 19/4 with BetVictor.
Recent head to heads
This fixture has been a disaster for Arsenal recently. City have been dominant and have now won twice this season in the Emirates and in the FA Cup too. They have won seven in a row in fact.
And you need to go back to 2015 for Arsenal's last win at the Etihad.
Players to watch
Incredibly, Erling Haaland failed to score in his 68 minutes at Wembley at the weekend, but the Norwegian will be the man Arsenal have to stop on Wednesday and he's odds-on to score anytime. He's 4/6 to score at UniBet.
Gabriel Jesus makes a return to his former club and he has scored four goals in his last four games. The Brazilian is 18/5 with William Hill to score.
Anything else catch the eye?
It's very very hard to fancy Arsenal here. They've not only gone off the boil, but they have forgotten how to defend as no clean sheets in their last six games prove.
Conceding seven goals in their last three games – including to struggling West Ham and Southampton is exactly what you don't need against a clinical City side and while Arsenal should certainly contribute to the scoring, with City yielding chances in nearly every game including against Championship Sheffield United, the obvious shout here is a home win and both teams to score at 21/10 with 10bet.
City could easily hit three at least here too. That's an attractive proposition at 17/10 with BetVictor.
And continuing the City dominance thoughts, back them to score in both halves at 5/4 with Coral.
This English Premier League match between Manchester City and Arsenal will be played on Apr 26, 2023 and kick off at 20:00. Check below for our tipsters best Manchester City vs Arsenal prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
