Man City v Arsenal: How do Carabao Cup finalists compare in attack?

Who will get the goals to win the Carabao Cup final between Manchester City and Arsenal?

After looking at the goalkeepers, defences and midfielders, now we turn our attentions to the forwards, with Sergio Aguero and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang the leading lights at Wembley on Sunday.

Who has the edge up front? We take a look…
City’s strength
Only Paris St-Germain have scored more goals domestically in Europe’s top five leagues this season than Manchester City. Their tally of 79 goals is 18 more than Liverpool – the second-highest scorers in the Premier League – and they are well on track to break the league record of 103 in a season set by Chelsea in 2009/10.

In Aguero, they not only have the third-highest scorer in the top flight, but also a striker in good form this year. The 29-year-old has netted 14 goals in 2018, including four in a 5-1 victory over Leicester recently.
„He has a special talent in the box, he is clinical,“ said City boss Pep Guardiola after the win over the Foxes. „We need his goals, that’s why it’s so good.“

But although Aguero has now scored 198 in total for City, there have been other key contributors this season, most notably Raheem Sterling, who has 15 Premier League goals to his name, having only scored 20 in the last three years combined.

Sterling’s form has been a major positive for City and, speaking to Sky Sports’ Gary Neville earlier this month, he explained why he is getting more goals. „A lot of times before I was getting into goalscoring positions, then it was down to me score, but the majority of the time I wasn’t. Now I’m getting closer to the goal and making sure I’m following things in, and I’m getting the rewards for it.“
While Sterling and Aguero look certain to start at Wembley, Guardiola may have to choose between Leroy Sane, who has returned from injury earlier than expected, and Bernardo Silva for the third attacking position.

Guardiola described Sane as „a special talent“ earlier this year but he only lasted 45 minutes in the FA Cup defeat to Wigan on Monday, which was the first game that City had failed to score in this year and only the third time they have not found the net this season.

Was Wigan’s display a blueprint for Arsenal?

Like Wolves in the Carabao Cup in October – when they held City goalless over 120 minutes – Wigan defended deep and did not allow any space behind. While City did still create chances, their attack was largely blunted and Aguero was kept particularly quiet. Wigan also managed to find space on the break, particularly in the wide positions, which Arsenal might be able to repeat with the help of their big-money January signing…
A lack of options?
After selling Olivier Giroud in January and then seeing Alexandre Lacazette go down with injury, Arsenal look as though they will turn to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to lead the line on Sunday.

The Gunners’ club-record signing has only played twice since joining from Borussia Dortmund last month, with his first appearance marked by a goal against Everton and his second an anonymous display in a 1-0 defeat at Wembley against Tottenham, when he was starved of service and only had two touches in the box.

If Arsenal are going to hurt City they will surely need more of the promising link-up play that was on show when they eased past Everton 5-1 at the Emirates on Aubameyang’s debut.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who is cup-tied for the Carabao Cup final, provided three assists in the game and Mesut Ozil was also influential.

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said earlier this month that Ozil is now Arsenal’s main man after Alexis Sanchez’s departure.

„I think the question has always been whether he does decide the big games, is he the man to take them to big trophies and the Premier League,“ he said. „That has happened over the last few years, and that has to happen for him to be placed alongside the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry. But there’s no doubt he’s now Arsenal’s No 1 man after Sanchez has gone.
Ozil has created more chances (318) since the start of the 2015/16 season than any other Premier League player, including Kevin De Bruyne (268), but the Gunners could be without Aaron Ramsey due to injury.

That might open the door for either Alex Iwobi or Danny Welbeck to start. Iwobi showed encouraging signs against Everton and Ostersund in the Europa League but was then left out for the defeat to Tottenham when the Gunners struggled. Welbeck, meanwhile, has only started sporadically this season and has only scored five goals in all competitions.
Also, how will Arsenal press without the ball? Will Aubameyang, Ozil and Iwobi or Welbeck expend energy by trying to force errors from the City defenders? Liverpool had success with the tactic in their recent win over City, but will the Gunners try for the same?
Euro Soccer Bonus

Our fantastic Euro Soccer accumulator offer gives you the chance to earn a bonus of up to 100% on accumulators on the top domestic leagues in Europe along with the group and knockout stages of the Champions League.

This offer applies to returns on pre-match accumulators of 3 or more selections on Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for the English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga 1 or UEFA Champions League.

The maximum bonus that you can receive is €100,000 or currency equivalent. The bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based .on the remaining active stake. If a qualifying bet is edited .using our Edit Bet feature. The bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply. Double Chance bets or combination bets with bonuses. Such as Lucky 15’s or Lucky .31’s do not apply for this offer.

If your bet is successful, we will add the following bonuses to your returns:

Bet Type Bonus

14-folds and upwards 100% bonus
Terms and Conditions
Applies to straight pre-match accumulator bets on the Full Time Result or Result/Both Teams To Score markets for UEFA Champions League, English Premier League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, German Bundesliga .1 or Australian A-League matches. Maximum bonus €100,000 or currency equivalent. Euro Soccer Bonus does not apply to Double Chance bets or combination. bets with bonuses such as Lucky 15’s, Lucky 31’s etc.

If any selections are postponed/void then the bonus will still apply, but the percentage bonus added will reflect the actual number of winning selections. For example, an 8-fold accumulator with 7. winners and 1 postponed match will receive a 30% .bonus to returns.
The bonus part of your returns will be added to your account within 24 hours of your final selection having played.
This bonus will not apply where a stake has been fully Cashed Out. Where a stake has been partially Cashed Out, the bonus will be calculated based on the remaining active stake.

If a qualifying bet is edited using our Edit Bet feature, the bonus will be calculated based on the new stake. Where a bet has been edited to include or amend a selection for an event that is In-Play, the bonus will no longer apply.

Where any term of the offer or promotion is breached or there is any evidence of a series of bets placed by a customer or group of customers, which due to a deposit bonus, enhanced payments, free bets, risk free bets or any other promotional offer results in guaranteed customer profits irrespective of the outcome, whether individually or as part of a group, bet365 reserves the right to reclaim the bonus element of such offers and in their absolute discretion either settle bets at the correct odds, void the free and risk free. bets or void any bet funded by the deposit bonus.

In addition bet365 .reserve the right to levy an administration charge on the customer up to the value of the deposit bonus, free bet, risk free bet or additional payment to cover administrative costs. We further reserve the right to ask any customer to provide sufficient documentation for us to be satisfied in our absolute discretion as to the customer’s identity prior to us crediting any bonus, free bet, risk free bet or offer to their account.

All bet365 offers are intended for recreational players and bet365 may in its sole discretion limit the eligibility of customers to participate in all or part of any promotion.

bet365 reserves the right to amend, cancel, reclaim or refuse any promotion at its own discretion.