English Premier
2021-08-22 - Arsenal vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Sunday 22nd August 2021 - Kick Off 4:30pm
This game is live on TV
Arsenal
Talking about transitions and asking for patience is not always easy for a Premier League manager and Mikel Arteta is unlikely to be given a lot of time if Arsenal put in too many more performances like the one they produced at Brentford in the first Premier League game of the 2021/22 season. The 2-0 defeat came hours after it was suddenly announced that Arsenal would be without both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and the manager will need a big performance to keep the boo boys at bay.
Not many would have been overly concerned about a defeat as an outlier, but Arsenal missed out on European Football last season and Mikel Arteta's time in charge has been less than inspiring. The Gunners have to be better than the 8-4-7 record they compiled at the Emirates Stadium last season if they are going to finish higher than the 8th place they earned time out and if Mikel Arteta is going to keep the fans behind him over the next ten months.
Arsenal won their last 5 Premier League games last season, but they had a poor pre-season and the defeat to Brentford has only increased the pressure on the squad. They had not won any of 6 games at home in all competitions, but Arsenal did see off West Brom and Brighton in the final 2 Premier League games played here.
Gabriel and Thomas Partey are expected to miss out, while the status of both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette is uncertain. Both Aaron Ramsdale and Martin Odegaard are expected to be signed by Arsenal, but they are unlikely to be involved on Sunday.
Chelsea
There are some real questions to be answered in North London, but life is pretty smooth in this part of West London where reigning European Champions Chelsea reside. The comfortable win over Crystal Palace days after winning the European Super Cup has boosted the confidence of the team and Romelu Lukaku has also arrived at Stamford Bridge which has many tipping Chelsea up as the favourites to win the Premier League.
Many more may jump on the bandwagon if Chelsea are to win at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday and they will enter the second of the live offerings for television viewers as favourites to do that. The Blues had a decent 10-4-5 record away from home last season, but that was four fewer wins than Champions Manchester City and Thomas Tuchel will be keen for his players to close that number.
Chelsea have lost 1 of their last 5 games in all competitions and during that time they have picked up two trophies, while the win over Crystal Palace means they have won 3 of the last 5 fixtures competed. The side had been unbeaten in 8 away Premier League games under manager Thomas Tuchel, but Chelsea were beaten 2-1 at Aston Villa on the final day of last season which almost cost them a top four finish.
Hakim Ziyech is expected back after the next international break, while both N'Golo Kante and Romelu Lukaku are expected to be available for selection.
Head to Head
Arsenal surprisingly completed the Premier League double over Chelsea last season and that included a 3-1 win over them at the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners have won 3 of their last 4 home games against Chelsea.
Prediction
It has been a difficult week for Mikel Arteta after Arsenal's limp 2-0 defeat at Brentford last weekend and that has seen plenty of criticism hurled towards the manager of the club.
Off the field further signings have been made to improve the squad, but Mikel Arteta is seemingly not on the same page as some of the more experienced members of the Arsenal dressing room. Both Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were surprisingly ruled out on the day of the Brentford defeat and suggestions are there is more to the 'illness' reason given by Arteta and Arsenal.
Younger players have shown flashes of potential and there is some encouragement through those, but Arsenal fans don't have a lot of patience after recent sub-par seasons. It is thus not entirely clear if there is a wish to watch Arsenal limp through another campaign and Mikel Arteta will be under pressure to deliver a big result either this weekend or when Arsenal visit Manchester City next week.
It is a big ask of Arsenal despite their two wins over Chelsea last season and Thomas Tuchel's men are seen as clear favourites to win even though they are away from home.
Chelsea had a strong win over Crystal Palace last weekend and that was without some key players after the tough win over Villarreal in the European Super Cup. Now Thomas Tuchel has a full week of preparation under his belt for this big London derby and having Romelu Lukaku ready to compete only makes Chelsea even more dangerous than they were at the back end of last season.
The manager will likely set Chelsea up to limit the chances and spaces for Arsenal to operate, but I expect Mikel Arteta to concentrate on the defensive side of things in this fixture too. While I do feel Chelsea are the stronger team, I expect a much more resilient performance from Arsenal and they are at home where they did offer some resistance to some of the top teams in the Premier League.
Goals may actually be hard to come by for both teams all things considered and the best play may be backing fewer than three goals being shared out on the day. Arsenal did beat Chelsea well at home, but that was a Chelsea team under Frank Lampard and there was only a single goal produced when these teams met at Stamford Bridge late in the season.
Chelsea didn't allow too many good chances for Arsenal that day and were wasteful in front of goal. This time I expect Romelu Lukaku will have every chance of marking a second debut with Chelsea by scoring his first goal for the club in a tight, winning effort.
The Statistics :
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pick :
Arsenal 0-1 Chelsea
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Under 2.5 Goals at 1.80 with BetFred
