Mark Lawrenson predicts Arsenal v Man City in the FA Cup
Mark Lawrenson looks ahead to Arsenal's FA Cup semi-final clash against Manchester City on Saturday
Mark Lawrenson is tipping Manchester City to book their spot in the FA Cup final with a 2-0 win over Arsenal on Saturday night at Wembley.
The Gunners head into the game looking to continue their decent run of form in recent matches, and fresh from having beaten champions Liverpool FC 2-1 at The Emirates in the Premier League on Wednesday night.
Manchester City, meanwhile, are gearing up for the game after having claimed a 2-1 win over Bournemouth in the Premier League in midweek.
The last time Arsenal faced City in the FA Cup semi-finals was back in 2017, when Arsene Wenger’s men triumphed to reach the showpiece after extra-time.
However, former Liverpool FC defender Lawrenson is not expecting the same outcome this time around, and he is tipping Pep Guardiola’s men to have too much for the Gunners on Saturday at Wembley.
Writing in his column for BBC Sport, Lawrenson said: “Arsenal’s win over Liverpool on Wednesday was aided and abetted by some mistakes by the Reds but it was still a great result for them.
“Gunners boss Mikel Arteta made a few changes with this game in mind, but his problem is that City boss Pep Guardiola also rested several players when they beat Bournemouth on the same night.
“You could argue that Guardiola rested more of his better players than Arteta did, and that is not going to help the Gunners make a dent in City’s defence.
“The last time Arsenal played City in a FA Cup semi-final was 2017, in Pep’s first season in Manchester, when the Gunners won in extra-time.
“I don’t see that happening this time, though. City have won all seven of their subsequent meetings, usually pretty comfortably, and victory number eight is the outcome I am going with.
“City know they are going to finish second in the Premier League, and they also know they are back in next season’s Champions League too, so they are in good shape for the challenges that lie ahead of them.
“I’ve already backed to United to go on and lift the FA Cup but City clearly have a great chance of winning that again to go with this season’s Carabao Cup.
“The same goes for their hopes of success in Europe when they pick up their Champions League campaign against Real Madrid next month too. They might not have retained their Premier League title, but they are still a very good team indeed.”
Arsenal are currently in eighth place in the Premier League table and they will take on Aston Villa and Watford in their remaining two top-flight games.
Manchester City, meanwhile, are second, and they will complete their Premier League campaign with games against Watford and Norwich.
Guardiola’s men will then return to Champions League action on Friday 7 August when they take on Real Madrid in the second leg of their last-16 clash.
