Arsenal Looks to Regroup in Tough Fixture Against Chelsea Saturday

Coming off an embarrassing 1-0 loss away to West Ham last time out, Arsenal will look to bounce back with a stronger showing at home against Chelsea in this weekend’s biggest Premier League game. If you’re looking at making some bets for this game, we’ve got you covered.

The Gunners, who have four losses in their last eight games across all competitions, are in a bit of a bad state to start 2019 with manager Unai Emery not giving Mesut Özil any playing time, Aaron Ramsey headed to Italy, highly touted recruiter Sven Mislintat apparently headed back to Germany and the aforementioned West Ham black eye.

With that in mind, online shop Sportsbook has Arsenal at +205 in moneyline markets with Chelsea +135 and the draw +260. Spread markets have this at a pick with Arsenal +125 and Chelsea -150 while the total is 3.0 with OVER +110 and UNDER -130.

Chelsea is a tough challenge for anyone in the league and while Arsenal will have its hands full with the Blues, they have been a really good home team and a really good home bet so far this season.

Can they get back on track against a Premier League heavyweight? Let’s dig into it and see if we can find some good bets.

Arsenal vs Chelsea Game Center

Three Points Hard to Come by For Gunners

Chelsea has been a tough opponent for Arsenal in Premier League fixtures down the years with just one win coming in the previous 14 meetings. That victory came back in the 2016-17 season with a 3-0 result at the Emirates. Arsenal got goals from Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Mesut Özil. Of course, Sanchez and Walcott are gone and Özil doesn’t really seem to be in Emery’s plans.

Across those 14 matches, Chelsea has eight wins with five ending in stalemates. The reverse fixture this season ended in a 3-2 Blues win thanks to a Marcos Alonso Sportsbook in the 81st minute with the game getting out to a 2-2 scoreline in the first half.

Home field hasn’t been that much of an advantage in these games either. Dating all the way back to the 2004-05 season, Arsenal has won just three of these fixtures (2007-08, ’10-11, ’16-17) with Chelsea winning five and the teams splitting the points in six.

Furthermore, Chelsea is the third-best road team entering Matchday 23 with 22 points in their 10 games away from Stamford Bridge. The Gunners, on the other hand, are the third-best home team with 26 of their 41 points coming at home (more on that below).

Is Hazard Worth a Bet in Goalscorer Markets?

If you’re looking into “anytime goalscorer” markets, Chelsea’s Eden Hazard might be the name that jumps out at you and at -125, I think he might be worth a punt against a leaky Arsenal defense.

Hazard, Chelsea’s leading scorer on the season with 10 goals, has been fairly successful against the Gunners throughout his career with four goals and two assists in 13 matches in the Premier League. In total, the Belgian has bagged five goals against Arsenal in all competitions.

In the first meeting this season, Hazard managed an assist in the aforementioned 3-2 win but has bagged a goal against Arsenal in four of his 6.5 seasons in England.

Arsenal’s weakness at the back has certainly been well documented and with 32 goals conceded, that puts them at the joint-highest of anyone in the top 11 (along with Manchester United, Watford and West Ham). To their credit, however, they are much better on home turf, having only conceded 10 times. Pretty good, to be fair.

No Place Like Home

For all the knock Arsenal has taken this season, and yes they are coming off a dismal 1-0 loss at West Ham last time they took the pitch, there is no denying that they are getting the job done at home.

The Gunners have won four straight at home and have outscored the visitors 12-4 in those games. OK, sure, the last three have come with Huddersfield, Burnley and Fulham making the trip, but that streak began with a 4-2 win over hated rival Tottenham.

Which brings me to my next point: Arsenal has gotten points from some heavyweights that have visited the Emirates. The one home defeat came to Manchester City, but Arsenal has taken points from some good teams. They beat West Ham 3-2, Everton 2-0, Watford 2-0, Leicester 3-1 and Spurs 4-2, and drew Liverpool 1-1. All of those teams currently reside in the top 10 with Liverpool, of course, leading the league.

While the state of the club leaves a lot to be desired (just ask their fan base), a result against Chelsea in front of the home support could quickly erase the memory of a bad result here and there, the Özil situation and the potential departure of Mislintat to Bayern.

Ninja’s Pick

So last week we hit Manchester United/Draw double chance at -125 against my beloved Tottenham, so hopefully I can give out another Sportsbook in Matchday 23’s biggest game.

If the reverse fixture was any indication, there will be goals in this one and the 3.0 total at +110 is a decent shout and, while it’s chalky, both teams to score at -190 wouldn’t go amiss either. But I’m gonna make a play on Chelsea OVER 1.5 goals at -105 in this one. I think the reverse fixture was very telling and with Chelsea’s history of taking points from the Gunners, I feel like they’ll have to bag at least two of their own while trying to keep the likes of Aubameyang, Lacazette and others off the board.

Whatever you decide to bet here, best of luck.