Man City Mount Pressure on Arsenal with Leicester Visit

After squandering a two-goal lead against Liverpool last weekend and their lead against Manchester City reduced to six points with the Citizens still having a game at hand, pressure is already mounting on Arsenal in their quest to win a Premier League title for the first time in 19 years. Pep Guardiola’s side will be hoping to increase the pressure on the Gunners with a victory over relegation-threatened Leicester City today, before Mikel Arteta and his men take the short trip to West Ham in a London derby on Sunday

Manchester City will endeavour to claim their 10th successive victory in all competitions when they welcome Leicester City to the Etihad Stadium for a Premier League clash today.

While the Citizens are seeking to close in on top-flight leaders, Arsenal, the Foxes have brought in manager Dean Smith to pull them away from the hotly-contested relegation dogfight.

Man City have boosted their hopes of winning the treble this season following a successful week in both the Premier League and Champions League, with back-to-back victories over Southampton and Bayern Munich.

Their latest triumph took place at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday, with goals from Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Erling Braut Haaland securing a commanding 3-0 quarter-final first-leg win over their Bavarian counterparts to put them on the brink of reaching their third successive Champions League semi-final.

Haaland also scored twice for the Citizens three days earlier in a 4-1 victory at St Mary’s, and that result coupled with Arsenal dropping points in a 2-2 draw at Liverpool has seen Pep Guardiola’s men move to within six points of the Premier League leaders, who have played a game more.

Man City have put together a strong run of form at the right time and have particularly found their groove in attack, as they have scored 24 goals in their last five games across all competitions, netting at least three times on each occasion.

The Citizens head into today’s clash having won 10 of their last 12 Premier League encounters with Leicester and were involved in a nine-goal thriller in their last home meeting with the Foxes, winning 6-3 in December 2021.

Another victory for Man City would help maintain their impressive momentum heading into an important period in their season, with a Champions League second-leg tie in Germany and a trip to Wembley for an FA Cup semi-final with Sheffield United to come next week.

Eight days after the departure of Brendan Rodgers, Leicester announced on Tuesday the appointment of Dean Smith as the club’s new manager on a short-term deal until the end of the season.

The former Aston Villa and Norwich City boss – who was sacked by the latter in December has added former Foxes coach Craig Shakespeare and John Terry to his backroom staff and has eight games to steer the 2015-16 Premier League champions away from the relegation zone.

A miserable run of seven defeats and one draw in their last eight matches, including a 1-0 home loss to relegation rivals Bournemouth last weekend, has seen Leicester slip to 19th in the Premier League table, two points adrift of safety.

Smith begins his reign with one of the toughest challenges in English football against an in-form Man City outfit, and the 52-year-old is fully aware of the daunting test that he and his new side are set to face having lost all of his previous six meetings against the Citizens as a manager, with his teams conceding 19 goals in the process.

Leicester have lost each of their last four Premier League matches against Man City, although they frustrated the reigning champions at times in their most recent meeting, only for a stunning Kevin De Bruyne free kick to condemn the Foxes to a narrow 1-0 home defeat in October. A spirited and resilient display is required today if they wish to avoid a 20th league defeat of the campaign.

Arsenal are on the road once again as they visit the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon to take on West Ham.

The Gunners missed a massive opportunity to take full control of the title race last weekend when they raced into a 2-0 lead at Anfield before getting pegged back by a resurgent Liverpool. In the end, Mikel Arteta’s side were fortunate to escape with a point, but a draw on the Reds’ home patch shouldn’t be scoffed at.

Nevertheless, their lead at the top was trimmed to six points after Man City’s win over Southampton, and the Citizens’ current form suggests Arsenal can ill-afford to drop many, if any, points before the end of the season.

This is an absolute must-win for the visitors, and they’ll be expected to do so against a side that currently sits 14th in the Premier League table.