Arsenal take on Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday afternoon, and Joe Cole has made his prediction ahead of the clash.
The Gunners beat Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday night to secure their place in the last eight of the Champions League, courtesy of a stunning goal from Eberechi Eze and a neat strike from Declan Rice. Sporting CP await in the next round for Mikel Arteta’s men, as their pursuit of an unprecedented quadruple continues.
Meanwhile, Manchester City’s European exploits for this season were ended by Real Madrid this week. Los Blancos comfortably beat Pep Guardiola’s side 5-1 on aggregate, and Arteta will hope that the outcome of this tie significantly damages the morale in City’s dressing room heading into the showdown at Wembley.
Arsenal have the opportunity to put a stop to their trophy drought and claim their first piece of silverware since winning the 2020 FA Cup. Arteta’s team will be fired up and raring to go in north-west London come 4:30pm on Sunday.
Joe Cole makes Arsenal vs Man City prediction
Guardiola described Arsenal as the ‘best team in Europe’ earlier this week, and it certainly feels as though Arteta’s outfit have the momentum with them ahead of this clash.
The Gunners sit nine points clear of City in the Premier League, while they remain competitive on three other fronts. Unbeaten in their last 14 matches across all competitions, the North Londoners are in excellent form and should be confident in their ability to overcome an out-of-sorts City side.
The Citizens have won just one of their last five matches and were comfortably dispatched by Real Madrid in midweek. While Guardiola may have a surprise tactical ploy up his sleeve, Arsenal will be firm favourites at Wembley.
Unsurprisingly, former Chelsea winger Cole has tipped the Gunners to win the first available trophy of the season on Sunday.
“I’m not working on the Carabao Cup final, but I’m going as a fan, which I actually haven’t done for a long time,” he said on the Dressing Room Podcast.
“I fancy Arsenal, I think Arsenal beat them. Having watched Man City live, I fancy Arsenal – but it’s a great game for the neutral.”
Joe Cole thinks Arsenal vs Man City will be a feisty affair
Arsenal against Manchester City has become something of a grudge match in recent seasons. With the two teams consistently locking horns at the top of the Premier League, a rivalry has developed.
Erling Haaland’s infamous ‘stay humble’ comment at the conclusion of Arsenal’s spikey 2-2 draw at the Etihad last season ruffled a few feathers, and the Gunners’ ensuing 5-1 win at the Emirates was a tense affair. The Norwegian centre-forward and Gabriel Magalhaes have consistently fought tooth and nail for the bragging rights from this match-up, and this individual battle is likely to be prominent again at Wembley.
Cole believes the final could actually elicit some unsavoury moments and that antics from both sides could easily boil over into ‘nastiness’.
“I’ll make another prediction, I think there will be a bit of needle and a little bit of nastiness on the benches,” he said.
“There’s a lot of tension building at this point in the season, so look out for that.”
