Arsenal fans, listen to this: Pep has never lost on a Wednesday at the Etihad in the Premier League!
An incredible statistic emerges from Manchester City’s matches on Wednesday in the Premier League, with Pep Guardiola never having been defeated at the Etihad, counting 16 consecutive victories. It was 13 years ago that the home team last lost under these conditions in the league, and five years since they lost a Champions League game on a Wednesday.
The time is closer than ever. Manchester City welcomes Arsenal to the Etihad, against the background of a very close title race. A match, a six-pointer and a League title awaits the two teams, with the Gunners playing at a ground where they have not managed to score another goal since 2019 with Laurent Koscielny’s goal.
However, the paradox of the case is that Manchester City is the favourite for another reason. It has nothing to do with the two teams’ tradition at the Etihad or their form, but the fact that the Citizens are unbeaten when they play at home in the Premier League on Wednesday under Pep Guardiola.
This has happened in 19 cases since the summer of 2016. Account; The Catalan coach has prevailed on 17 occasions, counting just two “draws”, both of which were stillcharacterized as clean sheets with 0-0 draws. So when he concedes a goal… he wins and when his team doesn’t score, Manchester City manage to go unbeaten.
Everton in 2016 and Stoke in the same season are the only clubs not beaten under these conditions by Pep Guardiola at the Etihad.
Since then, they have won 16 games in a row, while in total, Manchester City have kept a clean sheet in 14 of the 19 matches they have played.
These games also include a match against Arsenal. In June 2020, with City winning 3-0 thanks to goals from Sterling, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden.
Finally, there are two questions that this statistic “raises”. When was the last time Pep lost in his career, at league level, at home on a Wednesday and when did Manchester City in the Premier League in general?
Starting from the second, City’s last defeat at the Etihad was in 2010, by Tottenham Hotspur 1-0. Yes, you got that right, from a North London club.
As for the most recent occasion Pep lost a home game on a Wednesday? We have to go back to his tenure at Bayern Munich and the 2016 match against Mainz! Defeat 2-1, with Karius the goalkeeper for the visitors and Neuer temporarily reduced for the Bavarians!
In detail, Pep Guardiola’s results on Wednesdays at the Etihad at Premier League level:
Manchester City – Everton 0-0
Manchester City – Watford 2-0
Manchester City – Stoke 0-0
Manchester City – Southampton 2-1
Manchester City – West Brom 3-0
Manchester City – Brighton 3-1
Manchester City – West Ham 1-0
Manchester City – Cardiff 2-0
Manchester City – Everton 2-1
Manchester City – West Ham 2-0
Manchester City – Arsenal 3-0
Manchester City – Newcastle 5-0
Manchester City – Bournemouth 2-1
Manchester City – Brighton 1-0
Manchester City – Aston Villa 2-0
Manchester City – Southampton 5-2
Manchester City – Brentford 2-0
Manchester City – Brighton 3-0
Manchester City – Nottingham Forest 6-0
Arsenal are going to have to be at their very best if they are to inflict Pep’s first ever Wednesday defeat at the Etihad!
Dimitris Manakos
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