English Premier
2012-04-21 - Arsenal vs Chelsea
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Saturday 21 April 2012 - Kick Off 12:45pm
This game is live on TV
Arsenal
Just when it seems Arsenal have done enough to secure their place in the Champions League for next season, up pop QPR and Wigan Athletic to stop their run and place that position in with a little bit of doubt again. The loss to Wigan here on Monday night will quickly be forgotten if Arsenal can grab the three points from this game, although a loss would see the pressure increase massively on them.
Arsenal are still 3rd in the Premier League table, and remain 5 points clear of Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United below them although those clubs, as well as Chelsea, have an extra game to play this season. The team are 12-2-3 here this season, scoring 36 goals and conceding 14, and they cannot afford to drop more points at the Emirates Stadium.
They had won 6 games in a row in all competitions recently, but have since won 2 and lost 2 as they have come off the boil slightly. While Arsenal have lost 2 of their last 4 Premier League games, their form recently has still seen them pick up 27 points from a possible 33. Arsenal had won 7 in a row at the Emirates Stadium in all competitions until the loss to Wigan on Monday night.
Laurent Koscielny will return from his domestic suspension for this game, while Kieran Gibbs should also be passed fit. Mikel Arteta is expected to be miss out, while Yossi Benayoun cannot play against his parent club. Either Gervinho or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will be brought in to replace Benayoun.
Chelsea
It was a really important result for Chelsea in the Champions League Semi Final first leg against Barcelona during the week, but the big games keep coming for them as they now concentrate on securing a place in the Champions League for next season. With a FA Cup Final already something to look forward to, there remains a distinct possibility that the season can end in a big way after all the problems they have been through so far.
Chelsea are 6th in the Premier League, but they remain just 5 points behind Tottenham Hotspur in the final Champions League place, while a win here would see them move to within 4 points of Arsenal in 3rd and with an extra game to play. They are 6-6-5 away from home this season, scoring 23 goals and conceding 18.
They are unbeaten in their last 8 games in all competitions and the belief will be high in the squad as they have secured 6 wins from their last 7 games, including against Spurs in the FA Cup Semi Final and against Barcelona during the week. It is interesting that Roberto Di Matteo has only been in charge for 5 away games in all competitions in which Chelsea have won 3. However, they are 1-1-1 away from home in the Premier League under the Italian.
Branislav Ivanovic is suspended, while David Luiz is injured. There are no other injury concerns, but you have to expect there will be some changes made to the team that worked so hard against Barcelona during the week. I expect the likes of Fernando Torres, Michael Essien, Florent Malouda, Solomon Kalou and Daniel Sturridge will all be pushing for starts.
Head to Head
Chelsea and Arsenal were involved in an astonishing game earlier this season that was won by the Gunners 3-5 at Stamford Bridge.
That means Arsenal have won the last two meetings between the sides after losing 5 in a row before that in all competitions.
Arsenal beat Chelsea 3-1 here last season, but had been crushed on the previous two visits the Blues have had to this ground.
Prediction
This is a really tough spot for Chelsea as they are travelling to the Nou Camp on Tuesday, but they cannot afford to let another League game slip by in the race for the Champions League participation for next season.
Arsenal themselves will be looking to get back on the right path by picking up the three points that will effectively put Chelsea out of reach, although they will need to play better than they did on Monday.
The Gunners should be inspired by the fact that Chelsea did concede plenty of chances to the Barcelona team on Wednesday night, but they will also have to be wary about their own defensive deficiencies that were highlighted by Wigan in the last game here.
Games involving the two teams have involved goals in recent games, with 7 of the last 9 in all competitions seeing at least 3 scored between the teams. The last 3 played at the Emirates Stadium have all seen at least 3 goals scored too and that looks the way I will be playing this game.
I expect both sides will attack as the three points are going to be very important to both and I can't pick a winner as Chelsea do have a decent record at the Emirates and against Arsenal overall despite losing the last 2 against the Gunners.
I just have a feeling Arsenal are a little short considering the way they played against Wigan on Monday night, but the Overs looks decent as I expect the home side will need to score at least twice if they are to win the game.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea
