Arsenal v Chelsea Prediction: Bookings could be key in London derby

Live on Sky Sports, Arsenal host London rivals and European Champions Chelsea at the emirates this Sunday at 4.30pm. It was the worst possible start for Arteta’s men as the gunners went down 2-0 to newly promoted Brentford in their first premier league game of the season. On the other hand, Tuchel’s Chelsea thumped Crystal Palace in a dominating performance at Stamford Bridge. However, Arsenal will take confidence from their recent head to head record against Chelsea as they did the double over their London rivals last season beating them 1-0 away and 3-1 at home.

Both sides have been active in the transfer window with Arsenal bringing in the likes of Ben White, Lokonga, Odegaard and goalkeeper Ramsdale while Chelsea brought in star striker Romelu Lukaku to address their goalscoring issues. Chelsea certainly come into this game as favourites with a quality squad. However, a fierce derby fixture like this is always tough to call with form often going out of the window. A thrilling encounter is expected at the Emirates and my 3 best bets for this huge clash are included in the preview below:

Team News:

Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Leno; Chambers, White, Mari, Tierney; Xhaka, Lokonga; Saka, Smith Rowe, Pepe; Martinelli 

Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Mendy; Chalobah, Christensen, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kante, Alonso; Mount, Havertz; Lukaku  

• Both teams to receive a card - Yes
• Over 0 goals for Chelsea
• Over 3.5 goal kicks in the 1st half for both teams combined

It’s a London derby with fans in the stadium so expect tackles to be flying in here in a heated game with a card happy ref in charge (Paul Tierney) so I am including a card each for both teams. Chelsea come into this game with a lot more confidence and with Arsenal’s inconsistent defence, the visitors should be able to find the back of the net at least once. Finally, I expect both sides to go for it from the off and so at least 4 goal kicks should comfortably land. Combining these 3 selections gives us a solid Bet Builder @ 4/5 so we will take that as our main bet with a 1pt stake.

Mason Mount created the most big chances for Chelsea last season with 13. With the likes of Lukaku and Havertz in front of him, I can see him bagging another assist for the blues here. He also takes corners for Chelsea which increases his chances of getting an assist. We will take this as our second bet for the London derby @ 16/5 with a small stake of 0.5pt.

With Aubameyang and Lacazette out, Smith Rowe will be vital for this Arsenal side and he consistently gets into good positions in the final third. He had 2 shots against Brentford and should get at least one here. Xhaka and Jorginho both love a cynical foul and are the two players most likely to be booked on the pitch. Combining these three selections gives us a juicy longshot @ 16/1 and we will take that with a very small 0.25pt stake for Sunday’s main event.

Best of luck if you follow these selections. Please always gamble responsibly.