Journalist Julien Laurens has broken down why he expects Manchester City to fall short against Arsenal in the final of the Carabao Cup.
Only a few weeks ago, Manchester City’s League Cup final with Arsenal would have been very difficult to call.
However, Man City have had a dismal few weeks, which have seen them exit the Champions League and practically fall out of the Premier League title race.
This has left some of the experts feeling confident in an Arsenal victory, including Julien Laurens, who has made his prediction for the match on ESPN.
Julien Laurens shares why he thinks Man City will be defeated
According to Laurens, there are reasons for Man City to be concerned about their abilities at both ends of the pitch on Sunday.
“The Catalan manager [Pep Guardiola] is struggling to find solutions to their imbalance, their lack of creativity and their defensive issues,” he said.
“His 4-2-2-2 formation looks vulnerable at times, and Erling Haaland has only scored once in the last five games in all competitions.
“I think Arsenal will approach this game the right way, with confidence but not lightly, and City will struggle to find a way of breaking their defence.”
Revealing how he expects the Gunners to win, Laurens added: “I won’t predict an Arsenal goal on a set piece, but they are in excellent form to face a City side full of doubts.”
The journalist believes it will be a close game, but he has predicted Arsenal to seal a 2-1 victory which will see them lift the first English trophy on offer this season.
Man City might benefit from being the underdogs
It is unclear how much of Man City’s recent struggles are to do with the weight of expectations they face on a weekly basis.
This will definitely have at least some impact and it was well documed that most people expected City to overcome Real Madrid before their Champions League tie got underway.
In the Carabao Cup, Arsenal are the favourites and this could actually help Man City. There is less pressure on Guardiola and his players, whereas Mikel Arteta will be feeling it all.
City have usually come out on top when these two teams have competed for trophies, so it would be wrong to suggest this final is already decided.
