Chelsea vs. Arsenal Betting Tips: Two tips for Sunday's capital clash
The pick of the Premier League action takes place on Sunday lunchtime, a mouth-watering London affair between Chelsea and Arsenal...
Chelsea vs Arsenal Tips
Both sides have progressed to the knock-out stage of their respective European competition, securing wins in the week.
Chelsea topped Champions League group E with a 2-1 victory over Dinamo Zagreb, on Wednesday, while Kieran Tierney’s strike was the difference between the Gunners and FC Zurich as the North London club also topped their group in the Europa League.
The hosts will come into this clash slightly fresher, having played a day earlier. Graham Potter deployed a diamond in the UCL, tactically flexible, he could revert back to the 3-4-2-1 we saw at Brighton with Ruben Loftus-Cheek returning to the XI. Mateo Kovacic picked up a knock but should be available to partner Jorginho in the middle of the park.
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The visitors dropped down to 2nd following a late win for Manchester City on Saturday. Thursday’s goalscorer Tierney should keep his spot, despite Takehiro Tomiyasu returning from injury with a 15 minute cameo. The Gunners will also be bolstered by the news that Bukayo Saka has returned to training, the English international could be fit enough to start at Stamford Bridge.
The bookies have this as a pick'em, with these London rivals both 7/4, however, the value may lie with the hosts who have won 58% of their games when priced accordingly.
Interestingly, Chelsea went off at odds on favourites when they most recently hosted an EPL meeting, Arsenal ran out 4-2 winners that evening though.
Recent history suggests siding with a lack of goals in a fixture involving these two sides is a foolish move with the last two meetings seeing 10 goals. Not that head-to-head data is worth reading too much into but I expect this meeting to buck this trend.
Five of Potter’s 10 game long tenure have seen unders click, notably the bet landed in their 1-1 draw with fellow big six side Manchester United.
The underlying data has not been as flattering as the 70% win rate indicates though with the Blues generating an average of 1.1 xG per game, hardly blowing their opposition away.
Arsenal’s meetings against the big boys have seen a glut of goals with each of their games against Spurs, Man Utd and Liverpool seeing both teams bag, with 13 goals scored in total. Mikel Arteta’s side do not give up much on their travels, conceding 0.80 goals per game from an xGA per game of 1.07.
This fixture pits two highly regarded managers against one another, who will no doubt mutually respect one another. I think it will be an intriguing tactical battle, but not a goal laden clash.
Raheem Sterling has come under a lot of scrutiny recently, a player who does not exactly fit the mould of his new supremo. Some pundits even questioning if he should be starting for England in Qatar.
When the former Man City man bagged the opener for Chelsea in midweek, the look on his face was not joy but more relief. He is clearly a man playing with a point to prove at the minute, an edge that I think primes him to be in the thick of the action on Sunday.
He already has three cards to his name this campaign, matching his total for club and country last season, so given the magnitude of this fixture this angle should provide a bit of interest.
Best of luck if you are backing any of this selections and please remember to gamble responsibly.