Chelsea vs. Arsenal Predictions: White to rack up the passes for the Gooners

More Premier League action on Wednesday night as Chelsea welcome Arsenal to Stamford Bridge for another London derby. Live on Sky Sports Main Event with a 19:45 kick off, Chelsea will be aiming to make it back to back victories against the Gunners following a 2-0 victory back in August. With a win at Stamford Bridge, Arsenal could make it four victories from five against the Blues whilst taking a huge leap towards grasping that top four spot. 

A season where Chelsea look set for third place yet failed to join Liverpool and Manchester City in the title race will be disappointing for Tuchel. Failing to defend their Champions League title after being knocked out In the quarter-finals by Real Madrid will also disappoint, but a 2-0 victory against Crystal Palace in the FA Cup Semi-final gives hope that the Blues can achieve silverware this season, facing Liverpool in the final at Wembley Stadium on 14th May.

An exceptional Fraser Forster prevented Arsenal taking points from Southampton at the weekend, another dent to their top four aspirations. Three defeats on the bounce now for Arteta and a tough trip to Chelsea will make it difficult to turn the tide. A loss here would keep them in 6th place without any games in hand over Manchester United or Tottenham, with fixtures against both still to contend with, its going to be a thrilling top four race as the season closes in.  

Chelsea possible starting lineup:
Mendy; James, Silva, Rudiger; Azpilicueta, Kante, Jorginho, Alonso; Mount, Werner; Lukaku

Arsenal possible starting lineup:
Ramsdale; Cedric, White, Gabriel, Tavares; Xhaka, Lokonga; Saka, Odegaard, Smith Rowe; Martinelli

A market which I have found great success in recently is the pass markets which are a great addition to Bet365s website. Having more of the ball has definitely been worked on by Arteta this year, with severe improvement in Arsenals passing and possession numbers. 

Ben White has been racking up the passes at the back for Arsenal, hitting some huge numbers in particular when falling behind. Across his last eight Premier League matches, he has cleared this line comfortably in all eight with his lowest figure being 61 in a 1-0 win against Aston Villa.

With such great passing numbers for Ben White, I feel this line also look relatively low for the price of 11/2. These odds imply the selection has only a 15% chance of winning, however I would say if the circumstances suit, the chance would be greatly improved.

His recent games have seen incredible numbers with this high line being cleared in seven of his last eight, however they are facing Chelsea here. The chances are that at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea will have more of the ball reducing the amount of passes Ben White can make. However, in the last two matches that Arsenal faced Liverpool, they had less of the ball in both, lost both 2-0 and White managed to rack up 72 and 69 passes. Playing better teams they can often find it harder to get the ball into the midfield areas which can cause Arsenal to recycle the ball between the defenders. If they were to fall behind to Chelsea, I expect this line to go very close. 

@DeanWoodward93 BettingOddsUK 2022 Profit/Loss +11.93 units (34.58% ROI)