Man City vs Arsenal: Why to back Nico O’Reilly to score at 13/2

A blockbuster clash awaits in terms of the Premier League title race as Manchester City host Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

After the Gunners lost 2-1 at home to Bournemouth, City beat Chelsea 3-0 at Stamford Bridge to close the gap to just six points at the top, with the Cityzens also having a game in hand.

Should they win that and beat Arsenal, both teams would be level on points heading into the final stages of the season, which would promise to have a thrilling conclusion.

City are in better form at the moment, and with home advantage, they will feel they can cause the Gunners problems on Sunday, and could rely on one player who has already hurt them this campaign – Nico O'Reilly.

Indeed, O'Reilly scored a brace as the Cityzens beat Arsenal 2-0 in the Carabao Cup final just before the most recent international break, and has been passed fit by Pep Guardiola to feature again.

The Englishman was an injury doubt ahead of the clash, but will surely be used from the start as he has become a key cog of the team in recent weeks.

Capable of playing at left-back or in midfield, O'Reilly has learned Guardiola's system quickly, and is now one of the first names on the team sheet.

Nonetheless, below we have detailed why you should back him to score on Sunday…

Can Nico O'Reilly inspire Manchester City to victory?

O'Reilly's double against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final were two of six goals he has scored in all competitions since the start of February.

No City player, including the likes of Erling Haaland and Antoine Semenyo, have scored more than him over the same period.

In total, O'Reilly has scored nine times over the course of the season so far, a tally only bettered by Haaland (33) and Phil Foden (10) in the City squad.

Considering that he plays in defence or midfield, it is also impressive to note that O'Reilly ranks eighth among the squad for shots per game (1.10) and third for xG (5.42) in the league.

Taking all this into account, we think the odds for O'Reilly to score against Arsenal are simply too tempting to turn down, and so we are backing O'Reilly to score anytime at 13/2.

Nico O'Reilly's record against Arsenal

O'Reilly has actually only made two appearances against Arsenal, one was in the Carabao Cup final and the other was in the reverse fixture in the league earlier this season.

That finished 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium, with Gabriel Martinelli's late equaliser cancelling out Haaland's opener.

In total, O'Reilly has scored twice against the Gunners, and remains unbeaten in an albeit small sample size (W1, D1).

Nonetheless, should the 21-year-old end up playing at the Etihad, there is a decent chance that he can inspire City to a positive result, with him even potentially getting himself on the scoresheet.