Lee Dixon: Confident Arsenal can hold City

Joe Hart will shrug off the disappointment of Tuesday night but he may not be celebrating a win
Arsene Wenger's wasted no time building up another effective Arsenal team, and Lee Dixon sees enough about them to get a point from Sunday's visit to the Etihad...
There was genuine heartbreak for City at the Bernabeu on Tuesday night, but this is just the fixture they would want.
The Etihad will be packed, the Sky cameras will be rolling and the opposition is top-class - City will be totally focused on this game, and the memories of the Real Madrid will have faded already. In many ways, it's the perfect game for them. As players you should want the big games to come thick and fast, it helps to focus the mind and I just can't see the home side dwelling on their Champions League woes.
While City were feeling the pain in Spain, Arsenal enjoyed different fortunes in France, though by all accounts they rode their luck and were somewhat lucky to get the win. I spoke to Steve Bould this week and he said they looked a bit tired in the second-half and were hanging on a bit. I don't expect either of these teams to suffer from fatigue on Sunday though - players are just getting into the swing of things at this stage of the season, and I don't think it'll be an issue.
One of the stories of the first few weeks of this Premier League season has been Arsenal's miserly back four - regardless of who is between the sticks - and I expect them to be defensively sound again on Sunday.
You have to say it was working at the other end of the pitch last weekend, too, as Arsene Wenger's men hit the goal trail against Saints. That is a little misleading I think, Saints have not been the tightest team at the back, and there is still work to be done at both ends of the pitch for the current crop of Gunners.
I imagine this game will be played at full pelt, but with City just a touch off top form and Arsenal ticking along quite nicely it has draw written all over it. There is a new belief to Wenger's men and a new found resilience that will serve them well.
City might break through the Arsenal rearguard but I think that whatever the visitors give away they can take back at the other end.
One last thought - there is no love lost between these two, after repeated City raids on the Arsenal playing staff, and I'm going big on the bookings.
Recommended Bets
Back the draw @ 4.1n/a
Back 9pts and above in bookings odds @ 2.26/5
Michael Cox says...
I think this match will be slow to get going. Arsenal were highly impressive on the break against Liverpool in their previous away league fixture, and Roberto Mancini will be reluctant to push too many players high up the pitch, afraid of the speed of Arsenal’s counter-attacks. Equally, Arsenal have become organised and compact without the ball, sitting deep in two banks of four. As a result, I’m not sure which side will make the running – neither will want to leave space in behind their defence. I think there might be a slow start here, and I’ve already tried to back a half-time 0-0 at 3.7, although it looks like I might have to settle for 3.65.
Alan Thompson says...
City are unbeaten at home now for 31 games, and Arsenal have lost just one of their last 10 away games, so maybe a draw as Lee suggests is the best option. Traditionally, these games haven’t produced many goals, with just six scored in the last six meetings. However, there has been an interesting trend evolving in the second half of games at the Etihad – goals! Forty-eight of the 67 scored here last season came in the second half and that has continued this season with seven coming after the break from a total of nine. Only Sunderland have managed to score at the Etihad before half time since the start of last season. I am going to “dutch” back Man City 1-0 & 2-0 in the Half Time score market (pays approx 3.5). There was only one game at the Etihad last season that didn’t have a second half goal (vs Manchester United). Therefore, I am also going to be backing second half goals either by laying the correct score in running at 3.0 or by backing the half time number of goals scored +1.5 & +2.5 (e.g. 1-0 HT back over 2.5 goals and over 3.5 goals in the second half).