Arsenal host league leaders Chelsea in Sunday’s late kick off and the Gunners know that after Chelsea’s 1-0 win over Manchester United last week, noting but a win will keep their hopes of lifting the title alive.
The fact that Arsenal even have a chance of claiming the title has shown how far Arsene Wenger’s side have kicked on in the second half of the season given that they were sixth at the end of play on New Year’s Day following a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Southampton. Their form since then has been greatly helped by Olivier Giroud’s return to fitness and form with the big Frenchman scoring 10 goals in his last 10 matches.
Chelsea have been picking up points in plenty of games, but they have often failed to impress, just edging wins against the likes of Hull City and Queens Park Rangers. However, whilst it is a cliché that good sides pick up wins when they don’t play well, they will need to put in a good performance against Arsenal if they are to secure the victory which would basically seal the title.
The Blues will go into the match knowing that they have a far better record head to head record, with the Gunners not registering a win over their city rivals since October 2011 and Jose Mourinho’s side battered them 6-0 last season.
The Gunners will be boosted by the return of Mikel Arteta who looks to have fully recovered from his injury which has kept him sidelined for a long part of this season, however, Per Mertesacker may be a doubt. With Diego Costa out, the burden of goalscoring falls to Didier Drogba and Loic Remy. However, with both carrying niggles, there is the potential that we might see Dominic Solanke make his Premier League debut.
Arsenal v Chelsea Betting Tips
- Match to end in a draw – Two out of the last four matches between these two at the Emirates have ended in draws and we think this will be no different with two in-form teams cancelling each other out. A draw is a result Mourinho would probably take were he offered it before the match and you can back it at 23/10 with BetVictor.
- Dominic Solanke to score at anytime – Check the team sheets before putting this one on, but if the England youth international is named then he could be a good bet to score with Drogba and Remy carrying knocks. Having trained with the first team all season he’ll slot right in and he’s scored 35 goals this season for the youth team at Chelsea. The youngster can be backed to make a dream debut at 3/1 with Sky Bet.
- Alexis Sanchez to win man of the match – The Chilean international was back to his brilliant best against Reading in the FA Cup last weekend and if he performs like he has recently it would be little surprise to see him pick up the man of the match award at 8/1 with BetVictor.
- Olivier Giroud to score first – The former Montpellier man is in excellent form and given the men he has playing behind him, he’s always going to get quality service and you can back Giroud to open the scoring at 6/1, again with BetVictor.