It has been a good couple of weeks for the Gunners since the below-par 1-1 draw at Norwich City at the end of last month. Arsene Wenger’s side have won three in a row, scoring eight and conceding just one to stay hot on the heels of Leicester and also scrape through to the Champions League knockout stage.
Last week’s 3-0 win at Olympiacos put Arsenal through the group stage for the 16th year in a row, but they finished second behind Bayern Munich and were duly punished with a last-16 tie against favourites for the crown and defending champions Barcelona.
After three without a win, the Gunners have won back-to-back league matches against Sunderland and Aston Villa – the league’s bottom two clubs. Olivier Giroud opened the scoring at Villa Park last weekend and the Frenchman has five goals in the Gunners’ three recent wins, while Aaron Ramsey is also back in form having bagged two goals and an assist in the wins over Sunderland and Villa.
At the other end, Petr Cech’s clean sheet on Sunday equalled David James’s Premier League record of 169 shutouts. Three of Arsenal’s next four Premier League games are at home, and the Gunners are unbeaten in their last six league games at the Emirates since the opening-day defeat to West Ham United.
While Arsenal were handed arguably the toughest tie of the last 16, City will be happy with their opponent for the first round of the knockout stage after having to face Barcelona the last two years in the same round.
City have won five of their last six Premier League home matches, but it is a different story on the road. Pellegrini’s side have won none of their last four away league games and failed to score in the last three in a row, drawing blanks at Manchester United, Aston Villa and Stoke City.
If they fail to find the net at the Emirates, it will be the first time in almost 10 years that they have gone four straight away league games without a goal.
|
|
  
|