Mikel Arteta and Pep Guardiola played out a goalless draw at the Etihad which saw Liverpool retain their position at the Premier League summit. Find all the Manchester City vs Arsenal stats from Opta on this page.
Manchester City and Arsenal played out a cagey, goalless draw at the Etihad to leave the title race finely poised with just nine games to go. That draw means that Liverpool’s win earlier in the day against Brighton is enough for them to emerge from Matchday 30 two points clear at the top of the Premier League.
It was almost a year ago that Arsenal were comprehensively outplayed in this exact fixture, a result that underscored their terrible April run that effectively ended their title hopes last season.
From the opening exchanges this time around, it seemed like Mikel Arteta’s number one priority was to keep the game extremely tight and rely on his side’s defensive strength to take the game as deep as possible with things level. After all, Arsenal’s title charge has been built on the foundations of the best defence in the league.
As such, after trading possession in the opening 10 minutes, the home side soon wrestled control of the game, dominating the ball and squeezing right up with pitch without it. Arsenal were pinned back as a result, with both of Arsenal’s wide forwards, Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka, forced to do a lot of defensive work to help their full-backs out. So much so in fact, that it appeared as though Jesus had been deployed at left-back in the early stages.
And when they did win the ball back, it was so close to their own goal that Arsenal were forced to go long.
Such was City’s territorial dominance that across the first 30 minutes of the game, they’d attempted 81 passes in Arsenal’s third, while the visitors made just 14.
But for all that dominance, City could only muster one real chance of quality. Nathan Aké – who was later in the first half forced off with injury – found himself on the end of a Kevin De Bruyne corner with a free header just yards out. The Dutchman could only head his chance straight at David Raya in goal.
Arsenal just about weathered the first-half storm, finishing that period with just 27.8% possession and a 73.9% passing accuracy – both comfortably lower than in any other game this season. Ben White was their main outlet down the right, and his enterprising forward runs – which led to a few half-chances for Jesus – provided glimpses into what Arsenal could do going forward.
The second half started with a lot more aggression from both sides, but again City could not unpick Arsenal’s stubborn defence. As the hour-mark ticked by, Pep Guardiola’s side had registered just 0.2 expected goals from open play.
Even the second-half introduction of dribbling menace and chaos-inducer Jérémy Doku wasn’t enough to break the game open.
City’s best chance in the second half came via a set-piece, with Josko Gvardiol winning a flick-on that squirmed to the back post. Erling Haaland – who was marshalled superbly through the game by Gabriel Magalhães – found himself free at the back post with clear sight at goal. The Norwegian uncharacteristically fluffed his attempt.
That miss was the last major chance of the game, and Arsenal held out for a goalless draw.
That result saw Manchester City fail to score in a Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium for the first time since a 2-0 defeat to Crystal Palace in October 2021; they had scored in 47 straight home league matches prior to this draw with Arsenal.
It means Arsenal finally end their horrible seven-game winless away run against Manchester City, while Guardiola’s side extend their unbeaten run in all competitions to 23 matches (W19 D4).
A win for either side would’ve seen the title race really blown open, but a draw suits Liverpool the most of any of the three challengers. So much so that the Opta supercomputer now has Jürgen Klopp’s side as title favourites (47.7%), after both City (33.5%) and Arsenal (18.8%) dropped points.
Manchester City vs Arsenal Stats Centre
Our live Opta match centre delivers you all the Manchester City vs Arsenal stats.
The match centre below includes team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks, an Opta chalkboard and more. It gives you everything you need to do your own analysis during and after the game.
Underneath the match centre you can find the official Opta stats on the game as well.
Manchester City vs Arsenal Stats: Post-Match Opta Facts
- Manchester City failed to score in a Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium for the first time since a 0-2 defeat to Crystal Palace in October 2021; they had scored in 47 straight home league matches prior to this draw with Arsenal.
- Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in both of their league meetings with Manchester City this season, making them just the fourth side to shut out a Pep Guardiola side in two league matches in the same season, after Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2014-15, Manchester United in 2020-21, and Crystal Palace in 2021-22.
- This match saw just three shots on target (1 Man City, 2 Arsenal), one of just three games to see three or fewer in the Premier League this season, which also includes the reverse meeting between the two sides in October (also 3 shots on target).
- Arsenal attempted just six shots in this game, their lowest tally in a single Premier League fixture since November 2021, when they had five against Liverpool at Anfield.
- This was Manchester City’s first 0-0 draw in the Premier League since March 2022 against Crystal Palace, ending their run of 75 consecutive league games without any being goalless.
- Manchester City have drawn seven Premier League games this season, their most in a campaign since 2016-17 (9).
- Manchester City and Arsenal played out a goalless draw for the first time since January 2011, with each of the last 33 meetings between the two sides in all competitions seeing at least one goal prior to today.
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