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Tuesday, November 9

12 Top Facebook Marketing Tips for Small Businesses By ANTONY MAINA | NOVEMBER 9, 2021

12 Top Facebook Marketing Tips for Small Businesses


Are you dealing with a drop in Facebook engagement and need more visibility for your small business? If you’re tired of sitting in the shadow of competitors, try these Facebook marketing tips to help you crush the competition.

Small business marketing is a cutthroat arena, especially for small brands competing on a local level. It gets harder when those businesses go omnichannel and have to compete with larger incumbent brands in the digital space.

Without a big budget it can seem impossible to compete, but you don’t need a massive Facebook marketing budget to make waves.

In 2019 Facebook had 2.6 billion monthly active users. It’s by far the largest social network connecting people around the world. Even if you only serve a local or regional market with your small business, Facebook is a solid channel for reaching a much larger audience to grab market share (and customers) from your competitors.

Here are some of the simplest and most effective Facebook marketing tips to crush the competitors of your small business.

1. Post with a Purpose

12 Top Facebook Marketing Tips for Small Businesses — Post with a Purpose

Image via tomertu.

You can’t just post whatever you feel like posting and hope to gain traction. Every post you make should have a purpose beyond filling the void with noise. Be mindful about what you post and when. Determine what you want to post and why you’re posting it. Think about the action you want someone to take when you post.

Use your Facebook insights to look at old topics and posts to see what was the most popular. Also, check competitor pages to see what types of content and topics garnered the most attention from followers.

2. Optimize your Facebook Page

It doesn’t take long to populate company information on your Facebook page. Customers often use Google to search local businesses, but more customers are turning to Facebook to research brands and find local businesses.

If they’re already in the app on their phone they’ll frequently check into a business to look at reviews and recommendations, look up address information, find a phone number, etc. Once on your page they can click through to your website or click to call the number you’ve listed.

Tip: Use a trackable number, like Google Voice, instead of your primary phone number. This way you can track the number of calls that come from your Facebook page.

3. Use Facebook’s Story Feature

12 Top Facebook Marketing Tips for Small Businesses — Use Facebook's Story Feature

Image via sirtravelalot.

Facebook’s story feature is a terrific way to get easy-to-digest posts in front of your audience. It’s also a great way to showcase the culture of your small business. Stories are a more casual way to engage your audience, and it’s a form of Facebook marketing that costs you nothing but a little time behind the lens.

Stories don’t have to be news specific. They can be anything from an engaging question to a short video with a question or poll. Use anything that will ramp up engagement.

4. Get a Better Cover

A generic cover will fill the space at the top of your page, but Facebook gives you other options. Instead of using a basic logo or a picture of your business, post a video cover. String together a series of short clips from recent events, or video taken of your business, customer interactions, happy employees, etc. Upload the video as your page’s cover to showcase your brand and the culture of your small business. That’s far more attractive to prospective customers than a static image.

>> Create a customized Facebook cover image with our online photo editor.

5. Manage Your Time with Planned Content

12 Top Facebook Marketing Tips for Small Businesses — Manage Your Time with Planned Content

Image via Andrey_Popov.

Avoid making Facebook posts without a content calendar unless you’re jumping on a trending topic. A calendar is the most effective way to get content live without spending too much time in the social channel.

With a content calendar you can preplan what you’ll post and when, then preload that content into a tool like Buffer. A scheduling tool will auto-post your content based on your schedule. The only time you need to jump into Facebook is to occasionally monitor and respond to follower comments.

6. Include Customer Service in Your Facebook Marketing Strategy

According to a study from Accent Marketing, a staggering 82% of consumers expect great customer service from brands on Facebook. Delighting customers and providing stellar customer service is a smart way to stand apart from competitors in your industry.

Using Facebook as a customer service channel gives you the fastest response time. Being able to reach a brand when there is an issue is a huge trust signal, and people are more likely to choose you when they know you’ll respond. They can see that your customer service is on point if there is an issue.

7. Go Live on Facebook

12 Top Facebook Marketing Tips for Small Businesses — Go Live

Image via Gerain0812.

The 2017 State of Inbound report cited video as the “main disruptor,” with 24% of marketers naming it as a top priority.

Followers enjoy this more casual content, especially in video format, because it gives them a peek behind the scenes of your business. You don’t need to have anything scripted. Just giving a general idea of what you want to cover can be sufficient. Live feeds can be anything from a quick unboxing of a new product, a tutorial or product how-to, customer testimonials, live coverage of in-store or community events, and so on.

According to the social media channel’s newsroom, “People spend more than 3x more time watching a Facebook Live video on average compared to a video that’s no longer live.”

These videos can also be saved and published as part of your story or featured content on your page for customers to find later when they visit your page.

8. Post When Your Fans are Online

Your Facebook insights will tell you exactly when your fans engage with you the most by the day and the hour. So, plan to post your content when your fans are more active.

If your fans are highly active during peak engagement times, there’s still a chance your posts get buried in a busy newsfeed. A simple trick to work around this is to post late at night when fans are less active. That also means newsfeeds as a whole are less active. With less competition, those who are active are more likely to see your content. With that engagement jump, there’s a better chance your content will be sitting in the feed of other followers when they log on in the morning.

9. Post Visual Content

12 Top Facebook Marketing Tips for Small Businesses — Post Visual Content

Image via Dan Kosmayer.

Live video is great, but your other scheduled posts should include even more visual content, from images to video. Don’t just post links and text-based posts.

According to HubSpot, visual content is a requirement for a successful online presence. This is especially true since visual content sees 40x more engagement, and is far more likely to be shared, than any other type of content.

10. Use Custom Audiences for Ads and Boosted Posts

You don’t need a huge Facebook marketing budget to run ads. You just need an effective targeting strategy to get your posts in front of the right people.

The easiest way to see a higher return on your ad spend is to use custom audiences. There are numerous ways to create custom audiences, and by utilizing a Facebook pixel on your website you can target a range of behaviors. A few ways you can use custom targeting include building a custom audience based on:

  • Subscribers to your newsletter
  • The number of people who watch a video to completion, or part way through
  • Who visits your page and engages with you
  • Who visits your website, or certain pages on your site
  • The friends of people who like and engage with your page

You can either build a custom audience, or take the information you have to let Facebook create an audience of people matching interests and behaviors similar to your own customer list and existing audience. In either case, the targeting of your ads and boosted posts will be far more accurate than if you randomly select interests and demographics.

11. Use Facebook’s Product Catalog

12 Top Facebook Marketing Tips for Small Businesses — Use Facebook's Product Catalog

Image via GRSI.

“This template is a surefire way to create a rich browsing experience for shoppers, encouraging greater product discovery and engagement,” said Kevin Simonson, CEO of Metric Digital. “It’s also the perfect tool for implementing dynamic retargeting. Not to mention, it allows you to connect an existing catalog from another platform, such as Google.”

According to Kevin, one client used Facebook remarketing to increase sales after implementing Facebook’s product catalog. “Their ROAS went from 600 to 3000% and their CPA dropped from $45 to $9.”

12. Measure Your Success

No matter your approach to Facebook marketing, make sure you’re measuring the success of your efforts. Take time each week to review your Facebook insights. Check post and content performance to continually adjust your strategy to determine which actions — like the ones listed above — are most effective in bringing you new customers and improving engagement on your Facebook page. With consistent effort it won’t take long before customers are finding and choosing your small business over competitors.

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Thursday, June 27

An Amazing Marketing Tip To Crush Your Competitors

  by In digital skills 1One strategy that has worked for most companies is to create products that are priced in a way that drive attention to your higher-reveneue items. Here’s an example. Let’s say you run a coffee shop and you only have two sizes for your drinks. The smaller size is sold at $4 while you have priced your large drink at $7. Try adding a medium size and price it at $6. This will make it more likely that a customer will choose the larger size since it’s only $1 more than the medium

Take A Loss

This strategy might seem counterintuitive at first, but it works if you do it the right way. Conventional wisdom says that you must always make a profit on a sale even if the margins are thin. But sometimes, it might make sense to sell a product under cost. Why? Because these items will get the customers to your site or to your store.
If customers are enticed to visit your site because you’ve got a great deal on a particular item, then that gives you more traffic, which increases the likelihood that these individuals will buy other products as well. Of course, you want to be very careful with this strategy. If you notice that this particular product isn’t encouraging people to buy more, you might consider the same tactic but with a different product or service.
Effective marketing requires an out-of-the-box approach. You must use proven marketing techniques in a way that your competition isn’t. Using the tips in this article will provide you with the means to attract more people to your website and your place of business.
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10 Digital Marketing Tricks Used By Famous Business Brands

 ANTONY MAINA

Chris Richardson on Sep 19, 2018 in Content Marketing
There is no doubt that digital marketing or online marketing is crucial when it comes to the success of any business no matter what industry you are in. Unlike the past where businesses used traditional advertising, today, they are not as effective as online advertising and this has pushed many businesses to adopt online advertising to reach customers. Online marketing is the way to go if you want to reach and create a connection with customers.
Gone are the days when it was difficult to understand what customers need. Today, with the increase in tools such as analytics and digital marketing software, it is easier to guess customer’s behavior. Online marketing has enabled businesses to gain treasured insights to customers.
When implemented in the right way, digital marketing will enable your business to target and reach its customers, classify new ones, increase sales, and experience lasting growth.
These digital marketing approaches will make your business visible to your existing customers online and connect you with new ones.

What is digital marketing?

Before we share the tricks, we let you know what is digital marketing especially if this term is fresh for you. Digital marketing is the use of the internet and electronic devices to make your business known to your existing and new customers both locally and internationally. It is a means of advertising done through digital platforms like social media, email, mobile apps, websites and search engines.
It today’s digital world, marketing is about connecting with your prospective customers in the right place and at the desired time, selling them with goods and service they need at the right time. This means that you need to target them where they spend most of their time and in this case, it is the internet. Digital marketing encompasses a range of marketing activities such as content marketing, email marketing, search engine optimization, mobile marketing and more.
That being said, below, we’ve compiled a list of the digital marketing tricks used by all the famous business brands in the world.
1. Create an online presence on relevant social media networks
Being seen online is the key to success for every business, especially in today’s world where almost all businesses have gone digital. It is one of the ways to stand out from the crowd. For this reason, you need to build your online presence on social media networks of relevance. Note that there are plenty of social networks available but you need to identify where your customers spend most of their time and target them there. Pick those that are relevant to your business and prospects and build your online presence there.
2. Craft good and original content
“When it comes to digital marketing, content is everything”, says Dixon Wray a content creator at essaygeeks.co.uk writing service. Content can be audio, video or text but when you decide to use one or all of these digital content, ensure it is good and original. If you can’t create unique, compelling and good content by yourself, you can hire an expert to create content for your website and social media platforms. This is where you will need a powerful content marketing plan like never before.
3. Crate mobile-responsive content
To stand out from the crowd when it comes to digital marketing, you need to be visible on all digital platforms. Even though you must create good and original content, it might not make a huge impact on customers if they can only view it on a desktop. So, ensure your content can be accessed both on a desktop and mobile devices.
4. Promote content
It’s not about publishing content and leaving it there, it’s about publishing and promoting. You need to bring your content close to the right audience as they are likely to share it with their networks and become your customers.
5. Design a mobile-friendly website and social media networks
To ensure your content is mobile friendly, your website and social media networks are accessible on desktops and mobile devices. Customers are currently using smartphones and tablets to access the web. So, it is crucial to make your website and content accessible to users on all screen sizes.
6. Use the right tools

Digital marketing is an amalgamation of different strategies aimed at a plethora of channels, like SEO, PPC, social media, and so on. In order to ensure that you have an integrated marketing mix, you need the right digital marketing tools to help you run effective campaigns. You also need to develop expertise in using them and applying the insights in the right context.
7. Ensure an up-to-date SEO
Digital marketing is constantly updating. New trends are coming up and going every day. You need to feed your customers and prospects with new and fresh information every day. This is also crucial when it comes to SEO.
Note that Google has been updating its algorithms constantly and this seems to be a continuing process. For this reason, it is good to move with the latest tides so that your business can stay visible online to reach your target customers regardless of whether Google updates its algorithms or not.
8. You need to publish more content
As many businesses go online, competition continues to get tougher. Everything you do online has a huge competition. If it’s SEO many businesses are doing it. If it’s posting good and original content, many are doing it. So, to beat them, you need to publish better and more content. However, it’s not about quantity, but quality.
9. Create an emailing list
This should be done from the beginning of your business. If you are on the startup phase, you need to make an email list when planning. Ensure to gather people’s emails where you will be sending them any updates and progress of your business. Send them useful information but avoid spamming them.
10. Use infographics
People love infographics because they are attractive. Note that our brains can process pictures must quicker than text. A picture is worth a thousand words, and people will share them more often than texts.

It’s your turn

Digital marketing is a must for your business success, and we hope our list of tricks will keep you headed in the right direction. These tricks are tried and tested and when you implement them effectively, you can get ahead of your competition.
If you want your business to succeed online in today’s digital world, then these digital marketing tricks will come in handy. What tips would you add to this list? Tell us in the comments below!
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Saturday, June 2

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What is marketing?

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SUBJECTS

marketing

The management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer. It includes the coordinationof four elements called the 4 P's of marketing:
(1) identification, selection and development of a product,
(2) determination of its price,
(3) selection of a distribution channel to reach the customer's place, and
(4) development and implementation of a promotional strategy.
For example, new Apple products are developed to include improved applications and systems, are set at different prices depending on how much capability the customer desires, and are sold in places where other Apple products are sold.
In order to promote the device, the company featured its debut at tech eventsand is highly advertised on the web and on television.
Marketing is based on thinking about the business in terms of customer needs and their satisfaction. Marketing differs from selling because (in the words of Harvard Business School's retired professor of marketing Theodore C. Levitt) "Selling concerns itself with the tricks and techniques of getting people to exchangetheir cash for your product. It is not concerned with the values that the exchange is all about. And it does not, as marketing invariable does, view the entire business process as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse and satisfy customer needs." In other words, marketing has less to do with getting customers to pay for your product as it does developing a demand for that product and fulfilling the customer's needs.
USAGE EXAMPLES
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Friday, November 17

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbXWT9Ih1Cl/?taken-by=tonytosh34
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GUYS Amkeni Mnisaidie!!!!
... Msee Akisnatch Simu yako Unafaa Kumfuata Mbio For how long before giving up????
Nimekimbia dakika ka forty na huyu Jamaa anakaa kunishika!!
#nofaking... Msiniambie siku zangu 40 za uwizi zinafika leo... No... Not today
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Monday, November 6


Manchester City 3 Arsenal 1: Arsene Wenger's team outclassed but they get little help from the referee

That's that: Arsenal protested offside, but Man City's third goal, scored by Jesus, stood Credit: Getty

Match Summary

Manchester City 3 - 1 Arsenal
English Premier League05/11/2017 14:15
Referee: Michael Oliver|Venue: Etihad Stadium|Attendance: 54,286
  • Kevin De Bruyne19'
  • Sergio Agüero50'
  • Gabriel Jesus74'
  • Alexandre Lacazette65'
Pep Guardiola is convinced Manchester City will be beaten this season, and he may well be proved right, but for the moment his side remain thrillingly unstoppable.
Arsenal were the latest opponents to succumb to the bewitching brilliance of the Premier League leaders. Not lambs to the slaughter as some have been but Guardiola will not have been the only one wondering how his team were not out of sight and basking in another landslide of goals by the time Arsenal very briefly threatened to make this interesting.
In the end, though, all substitute Alexandre Lacazette’s goal 25 minutes from time succeeded in doing was poking the beast and, before long, City had restored their two-goal cushion when Gabriel Jesus made it 3-1 after a linesman had failed to spot David Silva in an offside position.
Arsenal will moan about that, even if they forgot the basic rule of playing to the referee’s whistle, and perhaps the award of a penalty, too, shortly after the restart from which Sergio Aguero had doubled City’s advantage after the majestic Kevin De Bruyne had got the ball rolling with a characteristically stunning strike.
But any complaints from Arsene Wenger are likely to fall on deaf ears since the gulf in class between these sides was abundantly apparent.
Arsene Wenger gestures on the touchline at Man City
Frustration: Arsene Wenger's side did not get a lot of help from the referee but were generally second best Credit: AFP
Alexis Sanchez’s longing to join City will only have intensified after this although he was largely anonymous on the day and, on current form, it is hard to see how the Chilean could force his way into this team.
There was so much to admire about this performance from City, even if Guardiola will be a little frustrated that Arsenal were momentarily allowed back into proceedings, but there was little doubt where the game was won and lost.
City were superior in most departments but none more so than central midfield where the sublime David Silva and De Bruyne systematically unravelled their Arsenal counterparts. It’s like two pistons working in perfect harmony. They so seldom lose the ball and when they are in possession they are so dangerous with it, and turn defence into attack at such speed.
Manchester City's Belgian midfielder Kevin De Bruyne runs
Piston: the pace and precision of Kevin De Bruyne's attacking has become fearsome Credit: AFP
City had two excellent chances to take the lead before De Bruyne’s moment of individual magic.
Barely ninety seconds had elapsed when Sergio Aguero sliced a shot wide from close range after Raheem Sterling and De Bruyne had raced away on the counter and then in the 12th minute fortune shined on Arsenal. Nicolas Otamendi dispossessed Mesut Ozil – yes, he was playing, Arsenal fans – Silva picked up the loose ball and found Aguero, who played Leroy Sane in behind Laurent Koscielny.
Sane’s cross seemed destined to be turned in by Sterling on the goalline but the England forward got shoved in the back by Sead Kolasinac and missed the ball. Michael Oliver, the referee, failed to spot the infringement and Arsenal breathed a sigh of relief.
Well, for seven minutes anyway.
De Bruyne fashioned his goal out of next to nothing
Inspired: De Bruyne fashioned his goal out of next to nothing Credit: Reuters
After De Bruyne had a snap shot saved by Petr Cech, Arsenal’s best player on the day, Sane picked up the loose ball and gave it to Fabian Delph who squared to De Bruyne. There was nothing really on but the Belgium midfielder played a one-two with Fernandinho, shifted the ball on to his left foot and then drilled it low across Cech into bottom corner. Exquisite.
To try to grasp the extent of the demands Guardiola places on his players, it’s worth peeling your eyes away from the rip-roaring football for a moment to watch the manager on the touchline. It becomes apparent just how exacting he is when he angrily stamps his foot or wheels away in disgust at the smallest pass that goes awry.
Guardiola’s fury when Sterling, looking to square the ball for Sane after being released by another awe-inspiring De Bruyne pass, overhit his own pass in the 35th minute was entirely understandable.
Pep in dismay v Arsenal
Task-master: Pep Guardiola brooks no slip in standards Credit: Getty
If Sterling had got that right with Koscielny outnumbered, or even took on the chance himself and scored, it would effectively have been game over for Arsenal at that point. But a couple of minutes before then, there had been another insight into Guardiola’s unrelenting standards.
After Kolasinac’s push on Sterling went noticed and Arsenal collected the loose ball, Guardiola was motioning frantically at Kyle Walker to be further up the pitch, ready to apply immediate pressure on Kolasinac, hands on his head in despair at the right back’s positioning. These are the small details Guardiola lives by and what, ultimately, make his side so hard to contain or counter.
Aaron Ramsey forced a good save from Ederson on the cusp of half-time but City were two goals to the good five minutes into the second period. Fernandinho’s raking pass played in Sterling. Monreal gave chase but his challenge was clumsy and down went Sterling. There have been clearer cut penalties but the contact was there.
Monreal brings down Sterling for a penalty
Penalty: Sterling got in front of Monreal at pace and a spot-kick ensued Credit: Getty
Aguero, who had been presented with a special boot to mark becoming City’s all-time top scorer in midweek, made no mistake from the penalty spot, the ball bouncing off the inside of the post for his 179th goal in City colours.
And then City’s intensity briefly dropped, Wenger brought on Laczaette, switched from three at the back to 4-2-3-1 and Arsenal suddenly had a spring in their step.
The goal was well made and well taken. Koscielny found Alex Iwobi, who teed up Ramsey with a good pass. Ramsey then spotted Laczaette peeling off Otamendi and fed the striker who shot powerfully underneath Ederson.
Arsenal would run out of puff, though, and after Cech had denied Gabriel Jesus with a terrific save, City claimed a third when Silva, from an offside position, collected Fernandinho’s pass and squared for Jesus to score.
Is Koscielny playing them on?
Is Koscielny playing them on? Credit: Sky Sports

Match Stats — Team Stats

Manchester Cityv.Arsenal

  • Attack

    Goals
    Manchester CityComparisonArsenal
    3
    75%
    25%
    		1
    Total Shots (including blocked shots)
    Manchester CityComparisonArsenal
    9
    60%
    40%
    		6
    Shots On Target
    Manchester CityComparisonArsenal
    5
    62.5%
    37.5%
    		3
    Blocked Shots
    Manchester CityComparisonArsenal
    2
    100%
    0%
    		0
    Shots from outside the box
    Manchester CityComparisonArsenal
    2
    40%
    60%
    		3
    Shots from inside the box
    Manchester CityComparisonArsenal
    7
    70%
    30%
    		3
    Shot Accuracy (excluding blocked shots)
    Manchester CityComparisonArsenal
    71.4%
    71.4%
    50%
    		50%

Action areas

Premier LeagueMan City v. ArsenalPossession24.8%52.9%22.3%58.0%42.0%

Line-ups

Manchester City

  • 31EdersonGoalkeeper
  • 18Fabian Delph
  • 30Nicolás OtamendiYellow Card
  • 2Kyle Walker
  • 5John Stones
  • 17Kevin De BruyneGoal
  • 21David Silva
  • 25Fernandinho
  • 7Raheem SterlingSubstitution Off
  • 19Leroy SanéSubstitution Off
  • 10Sergio AgüeroPenaltySubstitution Off

Substitutes

  • 8Ilkay GündoganSubstitution On
  • 20Bernardo SilvaSubstitution On
  • 33Gabriel JesusSubstitution OnGoal

Arsenal

  • 33Petr CechGoalkeeper
  • 18Nacho MonrealYellow Card
  • 6Laurent KoscielnyYellow Card
  • 34Francis CoquelinSubstitution Off
  • 8Aaron Ramsey
  • 29Granit XhakaYellow CardSubstitution Off
  • 24Héctor Bellerín
  • 31Sead Kolasinac
  • 17Alex IwobiSubstitution Off
  • 7Alexis SánchezYellow Card
  • 11Mesut ÖzilYellow Card

Substitutes

  • 12Olivier GiroudSubstitution On
  • 10Jack WilshereSubstitution On
  • 9Alexandre LacazetteSubstitution OnYellow CardGoal

Right enough from me

Here is Mr James Ducker and, if you're up for a bit more live blogging, here's JJ Bull on Chelsea v Manchester United.

Full time: Manchester City 3 Arsenal 1

Report and reaction to follow. Arsenal/Arsene might point to the offside decision for the third, and I daresay some of the more one-eyed will debate the penalty, but no sane person could argue that this was the correct result. City looked so dangerous on the break, and Arsenal were only sporadically on terms. City do have their vulnerabilities but Arsenal needed all their big players - Ozil, Sanchez - to excel, and they didn't. Lacazette came on and scored, a mixed blessing for Wenger I suppose in that some will ask why he didn't start.
Leaving aside Arsenal's perennial irritating issues, you have to hand it to Man City. They look the best side in the PL by a country mile at the moment.
Bright start: Mesut Ozil went close in the opening minutes Credit: AFP/Getty

That's it

Crushing, in its way.

90+ mins

World Class has fouled Gundogan.
Ref might as well stop this one.

89 mins

Rest of the match just a matter of a) how many 'Oles' the City fans can get in and b) which Arsenal players lash out in frustration. Oddly enough, it's Mesut! He's booked for a foul, a butch shoulder barge on Delph. Of all things.
Oh, and Kolasinac has kicked David Silva from behind.

87 mins

Should have been four, City maraud forward on the break and, for once, KDB has failed to pick out the vital pass.
David Silva's son Bernard is coming on. Leroy Sane is the player who comes off.

85 mins

Arsenal not really getting enough of the ball to make one think that a reply is even feasible.
Prepare yourself for irritating, crack-papering reaction post-match from the Arsenal camp: it should not have been a pen, the third was offside etc etc etc.

81 mins

Sterling's work is done, Gundogan the man to replace him. I fancy City for a fourth as Arsenal over-commit.
Walker does too, he is still getting forward well. Cannot find the cross to match.

77 mins

Xhaka, still spitting feathers, is taken off. Iwobi too.
Into the fray step two men for a crisis (erm? maybe?) Jack World Class Wilshere and dear old Olivier Giroud.

76 mins

Sanchez takes out his frustrations on the back of an opponent's legs, and picks up a yellow that has been in the post.

75 mins

Arsenal's players were in disbelief.
Arsenal offside protest Credit: Sky Sports

GOAL! Manchester City 3 Arsenal 1 (Jesus 74)

Arsenal are certain that Silva is offside, and to be fair he does look to be. But it's slipped through, Silva onto the ball, Arsenal are standing stock still just waiting for the decision. How VERY Arsenal. Play to the whistle, etc. The ball is crossed in, the simplest tap-in you could wish for, and that's surely game, set and match.
Xhaka gets a booking for complaining.
Is Koscielny playing them on? Credit: Sky Sports

72 mins

Otamendi has elbowed Lacazette in the back of the neck for a well-deserved yellow card.

71 mins

Mesut Ozil has done naff all, Sanchez also some way short of his brilliant best. Spaces are opening up for City, their quicksilver attackers finding plenty of space.

70 mins

Exciting game, this, Arsenal are in this, but every time they attack you feel that City fancy a breakaway.

66 mins

De Bruyne is running at full pelt when he is hacked down by Koscielny. Booking.
A looping cross finds Sane and he gets every bit of a technically difficult volley. Charged down for a corner.
Arsenal nod off at that corner, back post men MIA, and Jesus has a chance. Cech saves the day.

GOAL! Arsenal! Lacazette!

Well, well. Arsenal, against the odds, have somehow conjured up a goal, and it's the sub Lacazette who gets some space down the right after a good passing move. Accurate finish.

61 mins

Sergio Aguero is coming off, slowly and not looking too happy about it. He's got something in his hand that looks like a beeper, the sort of thing they give you in a busy uptown restaurant when you're waiting for a table.
Credit: Sky
Jesus comes on.

57 mins

Coquelin comes off. Lacazette on. His first actions are to give the ball away, and then rugby tackle an opponent for a yellow card. Something to build on.

55 mins

Seemingly harmless ball played into the box, City's keeper makes an absolute pig's ear of it, Rasmey charges forward and shoulder-barges the keeper, and the ball, into the net. It's like football from 1896! Lovely stuff. Perhaps Arsene can re-invent wee Rasmey as a blood-and-thunder goal-hanging centre forward. Or, perhaps not.

52 mins

What can Arsenal do? Sterling had been a thorn in their side throughout. A battering is a very real possibility if they push up too much here, City so dangerous on the break... and with the ball at the feet 30 yards out. Silva sends a lovely pass through, but it's overhit by a few percent. That would have opened Arsenal up like a tin o beans.

51 mins

Kevin DB just played a glorious overhead pass, albeit that not a lot came of it.

50 mins

No question about the penalty. Slthough some Arsenal did surround the referee. Monreal booked.

GOAL! Manchester City 2 Arsenal 0 (Aguero penalty)

In off Cech's left-hand post. Squeaky, or perfect, depending on your view.

48 mins

Arsenal allowed a rare chance with the ball, the City press comes in, and Arsenal cannot keep it.
It's played forward, Sterling into the box - danger here!
Sterling (top of picture) is sent through Credit: Sky Sports premier League
Sterling's got the run on Monreal, who is absolutely beaten here. He hauls down the Arsenal man, and that is a clear penalty. It's Aguero to take the penalty.
Monreal bundles Sterling to the ground Credit: SKy

47 mins

Two minutes of the second half. City stroking it around. Silva, quiet compared to some of his illustrious colleagues, allowed to dictate terms.

46 mins

Second half. Arsenal have a huge job on their hands. It is MCFC who have first use of the football, passing it around nicely at the back until an Arsenal foul on halfway.

Half time: Manchester City 1 Arsenal 0

That's the half. City superior, and with better decisions they would be 2-0 up. But Arsenal have had their moments, as Alan Smith says. Both sides have errors in them.
Pre-match thoughts that Arsenal would have a back four proved to be a red herring.

44 mins

But right on the stroke of half time, Arsenal enjoy their best moment! Finally, Arsenal produce a final ball, Ramsey does well to fashion himself an opening and he produces a shot. Good save!

43 mins

Arsenal have held their shape well enough
but have been attacked at pace and with precision, down that left channel especially.
Better decision making from Sterling would have put this game to bed.

41 mins

City break curtailed by an exception Coquelin tackle, he has been a bright spot for the visitors.

40 mins

Arsenal being pressured and harried into making mistakes: that's what playing a better opponent can do to you in any sport. Xhaka and Ramsey are both too prone to errors. Alexis losing the rag, he lashes out at an opponent. Fernandinho unmoved, as is the ref.

37 mins

More like it from Sterling, he chooses the right ball here: to the overlapping Kyle Walker who drills the ball across. There's a bundle, it's as likely than the lunging Arsenal centre back Koscielny turns this in as City forward Aguero but it's kept out by hook or by crook.
Walker's cross nearly an OG Credit: Sky
That situation came about because Xhaka tried an elaborate ball across his own defence.

34 mins

Arsenal have had a major let off. Ramsey's given the ball away, and City break quickly. It's slipped to Sterling and it's two-on-one. Sterling only has to play the ball to Sane, and this game is over.... but Raheem has made a horrible mess of that ball.
Guardiola is FURIOUS.
Ramsey's making out like he's hurt by the challenge (from that noted chopper Sergio Aguero). Come off it son.

32 mins

Woof. Arsenal teetering here. Aguero and KDB with more classy link up play, De Bruyne is down the left at pace, sliderule cross. Sterling would have had a tap-in had he gambled. A Lineker type would currently be celebrating a 2-0.

30 mins

"Arsenal have had their moments but they will just be disappointed with their final ball," says Alan Smith.
Per that point...

27 mins

Sterling's movement is excellent, as is the ball with which Silva finds him. Even still, should he be in that much space??? His effort at goal is deflected over off Monreal, the corner is eventually cleared.

Sergio's gong earlier

23 mins

Sanchez has the ball, Arsenal have numbers forward, City stretched, but he chooses the wrong potion.

22 mins

Any Arsenal ambitions of an immediate riposte are on hold, because City are keeping them penned in. Sane a constant threat.

20 mins

Arsenal must pick themselves up. That goal a result of the fierce attacking pressure that City exert, and the individual brilliance of Kevin DB. Not an easy combination to defend against.

GOAL! Manchester City! The brilliant De Bruyne yet again

As I say, Sane kept it alive, he plays it back in. A clever give-and-go from De Bruyne, and he then produces a superb shot into the bottoms, far corner, through a forest of legs.

17 mins

Sterling a crackerjack, he's causing Arsenal a lot problems.
Aguero, through sheer force of  will, has created an opening. Cuts it back for KDB. Parried. But Sane keeps it alive...

16 mins 

Excellent start to the game, both sides bright and courageous and also prone to an error.

15 mins

Sanchez has gone for a slide tackle and seems to have tweaked something...

10 mins

Arsenal lose it, Ozil the guilty party. City come quick, Aguero glorious touch, and Sane has slithered past the centre back Koscielny. Slides the ball across the area and Sterling cannot be more than an inch away from the decisive touch. He can hardly believe that's not in the net!

9 mins

Arsenal pinch the ball in a handy area, Monreal good work. But they cannot make the most of it and Ozil shoots tamely wide.

8 mins

Sterling with some lovely individual ball control to keep a move alive, gets the break of the ball as he goes past Xhaka and is in the area! But excellent collective composure from Arsenal as they tidy up and launch an attack. Stones curtails it with a foul. Sanchez wastes the free.

6 mins 

This is nice from Arsenal. Neat movement, Coquelin looking for the killer ball, slides it across with Ozil lurking. Corner conceded. That cleared, but now Kolasinac wins another. That again cleared.

4 mins

Coquelin looking a bit alarmed. He's got his work cut out. Walker also coming into that midfield theatre when City have the ball to further increase the numerical pressure.
Credit: Sky
Chance for Arsenal here, though. City's high defensive line struggle to clear a freekick, Stones heading it limply to Iwobi, who volleys over.

2 mins

Kolasinac is busy down his flank to start with, winning a corner off Walker. Arsenal give the ball away and here come City. Sterling breaks at high pace, slips it to KDB, who in turn has Aguero outside him. City ferocious on this break, four, five, six of them surging into the box. Aguero shoots wide at the near post.
Arsenal: gulp.

1 mins

City kick off, and the early signs are that Arsenal are going with a back five after all, Coquelin seems to be dropping back as a third centre back, in the middle.

Minute's silence done

Sunshine, good atmosphere. Goals anticipated. Let's play!

Arsenal line up
Credit: Sky

Man City line up
Credit: Sky

Players are in the tunnel

Sergio gets a special welcome; he's presented with a nice trophy for his goals record.
Few last minute instructions for Sergio Credit: Sky Sports Premier League

This does not 

look like a group of young men who are ready to fight tooth and nail, does it?
Credit: Sky Sports

Pep Guardiola

We need a huge performance, we are playing one of the best teams in the League. They have been one of the best for 15 years.
A bit of a surprise that they have back four. But sometimes the opponent can surprise you.

My God, if ever there was a rose and four thorns
Credit: Sky

Manchester City's players

Out and warming up on the pitch. It looks a decent day up in Manchester i.e. it is not actually raining at time of writing.

City team

That's two changes for them by my count: David Silva (c) and Kyle Walker the men into the XI.
Gundogan and Danilo are the players to make way.

Sharky

Reactions to that Arsenal selection

And John Shortall tweets: "Of all games to go four at the back Wenger you Ham roll. Why is lacazette not starting and why is Francis coquelin still at Arsenal."

Arsenal's skipper for the day

While we wait for kick-off

Why not check in with JJ's blog on Tottenham against Crystal Palace?

So: what is on the menu?

Arsenal's trip to Man City looks a daunting task, but no reason why the Wenger outfit cannot get a result if everything falls into place. An interesting team selection for Arsene, it would appear that he is going for a back four. Monreal and Koscielny as centre halves, with Bellerin and Kolasinac at full-back/wing-back?
I'm not sure I see Monreal as a centre half but then again he's quick and he makes interceptions, and it's not as if City are physically overpowering up front.

Good afternoon! 

Tyers here, happy Sunday, loads of football to enjoy today. I'm not a betting man myself but I must say, this seems a decent price. 50/1: Man City to beat Arsenal and other betting offers

TEAM NEWS - Arsenal

TEAM NEWS - Man City

Man City v Arsenal - all you need to know

What is it?

It's Manchester City vs Arsenal in the Premier League, one of four fixtures on 'Super Sunday'.

When is it?

It's on Sunday November 5.

What time is kick-off?

It's a 2.15pm GMT start at the Etihad.

What TV channel is it on?

It's on Sky Sports - Sky Sports Premier League, Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Ultra HD to be exact. Alternatively, you can follow the match here.

What is the team news?

Manchester City
Premier League leaders Manchester City have no fresh injury concerns ahead of Sunday's clash with Arsenal at the Etihad Stadium.
Captain Vincent Kompany remains on the sidelines with a calf injury, but manager Pep Guardiola hopes to have him back in training after the international break.
Left-back Benjamin Mendy is the only other senior absentee due to a long-term knee injury.
Provisional squad: Ederson, Bravo, Danilo, Walker, Stones, Otamendi, Mangala, Delph, Toure, Gundogan, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Sane, Sterling, D Silva, B Silva, Aguero, Jesus.
Arsenal
Arsenal will be hoping Sead Kolasinac overcomes a hip injury in time to line up against Premier League leaders Manchester City on Sunday.
The Bosnia-Herzegovina international limped out of last weekend's win over Swansea after scoring and laying on an assist but manager Arsene Wenger believes he should be fit and available.
Wenger changed his entire team for the Europa League draw with Red Star Belgrade but the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette are in line to return at the Etihad Stadium, although Shkodran Mustafi (hamstring), Santi Cazorla (ankle), Calum Chambers (hip), Danny Welbeck and David Ospina (both groin) remain sidelined.
Provisional squad: Cech, Macey, Mertesacker, Holding, Koscielny, Monreal, Debuchy, Bellerin, Nelson, Kolasinac, Maitland-Niles, Ramsey, Wilshere, Xhaka, Elneny, Willock, Ozil, Giroud, Walcott, Sanchez, Iwobi, Lacazette, Nketiah.

What are they saying?

Kevin De Bruyne:
"Since Pep came to the club, he plays a style of football I like to play, so it makes it easy as a player," De Bruyne told Sky Sports.
"I like it here, it is the perfect environment and since I came here there has been a lot of trust in me. I like the project they are doing from the moment I came here.
"There was an older team (when I first arrived), they did a lot of transfers, a lot of young people, they are building for the future... I am really happy here and I see myself being a long time here."
Arsene Wenger:
“We will try to play our game - we will not hide, put it that way,” he said. “You want to defend well but you cannot only be focused on defending. We want to play and have the ball and create dangerous situations. Sometimes the best way to defend is to attack.”
“You have to accept the risk if you want to play football. You accept the gamble and the risk. It’s part of the game. You have to rate the risk. Is it a bigger risk only to defend if a team is very strong when they attack?"

What are the odds?

  • Manchester City - 4/9
  • Arsenal - 27/4
  • Draw - 9/2

What's our prediction?

City go in search of their 15th consecutive victory, which would, if only briefly, move them eight points clear at the top of the table and a mammoth 12 points ahead of Arsenal. Arsene Wenger really needs his side to lay down a marker but will the Frenchman dare to try to fight fire with fire at the Etihad or adopt a more pragmatic approach?
Prediction: 2-1
James Ducker
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