Of course, the current Premier League champions are going through a lot. The 115 charges hanging above their heads are currently being battled out in court, which will likely be a distraction. That said, it doesn’t appear to have impacted the players too much—or, at least, it didn’t until Arsenal visited the Etihad Stadium.
The two clubs have formed a rivalry that has taken over from any other that they may have, especially when it comes to the title. They are the two teams that continue to remain the main contenders, and with the Gunners having come close in the last two seasons, it’s clear that there appears to be a little needle between the two clubs on the pitch.
Nonetheless, while the two teams managed to play out a 2-2 draw, bookmakers like Bombastic Sportsbook are all in agreement that Pep Guardiola’s side are still the favourites to win the Premier League title. However, that gap is certainly starting to decrease, and with things boiling over in Manchester, are there cracks starting to appear?
Manchester City’s heated encounter with Arsenal
Things can always get a little spicy on a football pitch. When two rivals are pitted against each other, we can expect there to be a little more to the game than we might expect to see in others. The recent clash between City and Arsenal didn’t disappoint.
The game started with a flashpoint just a few seconds in when Kai Havertz went straight into a block by Rodri following the kick-off. The Spanish midfielder would then be involved in a couple of other instances and would eventually have to leave the pitch with a suspected knee ligament injury.
It could be very damaging for City, as he could miss the remainder of the season. There have been rumours suggesting that he might be back sooner. Nonetheless, losing a player of his quality will be a huge loss for the club, even if Guardiola plays it down and has faith in his other stars. Of course, you only must look at the fact that they lost Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne for significant parts of last season and still won the league.
Speaking of the Norwegian striker, he appeared to lose his cool during and after the game with Arsenal, sparking further discussions about how City seem to have been rattled by the Gunners. The forward made a robust challenge on William Saliba during the game when going for a header that he didn’t look like getting before he and Gabriel continued with their encounters. The Brazilian had the ball thrown at the back of his head by Haaland following John Stones’ late equaliser, which went unpunished.
At the final whistle, the forward was involved in heated conversations with many of the Arsenal players, leading some to suggest that cracks were starting to appear.
Are Manchester City cracking?
There’s no doubt that the match between City and Arsenal means more than it once did. That’s normal in football, and this may be the next big rivalry. Jurgen Klopp is no longer at Liverpool and the Reds don’t seem to be challenging at the top as they once did during the Guardiola-Klopp era.
However, while the game was heated, the Cityzens will likely continue to march on and take each game individually. They’ve managed to deal with adversity before, and it wouldn’t be a shock if they could reclaim composure and show the league that they mean business again as they go for five in a row.
