Arsenal vs. City: The Stats
Arsenal away… It's a trip that City haven't been too comfortable with for quite a long time, though the blues' recent record at The Emirates is fairly good, given what's gone before it at Highbury.
In their history, City have only ever won 15 games when playing away to Arsenal (losing 55 and drawing 19), with the last league win coming in 1975 - goals from Asa Hartford, Joe Royle and Rodney Marsh giving the visitors a 3-0 lead, before the hosts clawed two back. City did win at The Emirates for the first time last season, as both sides rotated their squads in the League Cup at the end of November - a swift breakaway involving Edin Dzeko and Adam Johnson put Sergio Aguero in to score the winner with a few minutes remaining.
In contrast, the 1-0 defeat there in April seemingly signalled the end of City's title challenge - it left the blues eight points behind United on level games, the biggest gap that either side had had to overcome for the whole season. And it wasn't just the defeat, but the manner of it: A toothless performance, a preventable goal minutes from the end and a silly Mario Balotelli red card. Of course, we didn't know at the time, but that would be the final time City dropped points last season.
These matches have been feisty in recent years, with four red cards in the last five games. Dedryck Boyata, Pablo Zabaleta and Mario Balotelli have all been sent off for the blues (albeit one of them wrongly and it was rescinded), while Bacary Sagna had an early shower for the Gunners.
The scoreline 1-0 is a common occurrence: In all competitions in the Premier League era (1992-93 onwards), it's been the most frequent final score between these two clubs, happening ten times in total. Both of City's wins and one of the two defeats against Arsenal under Roberto Mancini have been 1-0, too.
That first goal could be vital, especially if it's City who open the scoring: In the last 19 games between these two sides where there have been goals, the team which has scored first has not lost - the last time that happened was in City's debut season at The Etihad Stadium, when Lauren's own goal put the blues ahead, before the visitors scored twice in the second half.
Moreover, Roberto Mancini's been to The Emirates four times and lost just once: Drawing two 0-0 and winning in the League Cup last season. Goals are quite sparse in this fixture in recent years; in City's last four visits, there have been just two goals. Defensively, Mancini has done well when visiting Arsenal, but offensively it's been less encouraging - in fact, City's last (and only) Premier League goal at The Emirates was scored by DaMarcus Beasley. In April 2007.
When it comes to the referee, who is Mike Dean for this game, City haven't lost in the last ten matches he's officiated (winning eight and drawing two - one draw coming at home against Arsenal). In fact, both games Mike Dean's refereed between these sides have ended in draws: 0-0 at The Emirates in 2009-10 and 1-1 at The Etihad earlier this season.
However, the last Premier League away game that City player under Mike Dean, they lost: 2-1 away to Wolves in October 2010.
There'll be a breakdown of these, plus some more pre-match stats on our
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