Arsenal vs Chelsea Preview and Betting Tips

What an exhilarating opening weekend it was in the Premier League. Man Utd, Chelsea, Spurs and Liverpool all looked good but for Man City and Arsenal fans, it was a nightmare. The Gunners will be looking to bounce straight back on Sunday but it won’t be easy against Thomas Tuchel’s Blues. Arsenal vs Chelsea kicks off at 16.30 on Sunday at The Emirates and it is live on Sky Sports.

The bookies reckon there is only going to be one winner of this London Derby. The hosts are rank outsiders and they are as big as 4/1 with one firm. 11/4 is the best price available about the draw and Chelsea are warm favourites at 8/11. Will The Gunners make it five competitive games unbeaten against Chelsea? Or will Lukaku fire The Blues to victory?

Arsenal

In our pre-season Premier League preview, we said that Mikel Arteta desperately needed a good start or the pressure would be on. Well, The Gunners didn’t get off to a good start, in fact they made the worst start possible. Last Friday they were beaten 2-0 by Brentford in an electric Community Stadium in what was a typical Arsenal of old performance. They showed no fight, no determination and the defending for Brentford’s second goal in particular was dreadful.

Back when Arsene Wenger was in charge, Arsenal always dreaded playing away in places like Stoke, especially in midweek. This new version of The Gunners look to be no different. Arteta has already taken decisive action, signing ‘keeper Aaron Ramsdale from Sheffield United for £25m and Martin Odegaard from Madrid for £31.5m. Ramsdale is available for selection but Odegaard is not as he has to wait for his visa. Aubameyang, Willian and Lacazette will likely miss out due to Covid 19 and Partey and Nketiah are also out.

Pressure Piling On Arteta

After the opening day defeat to Brentford, Mikel Arteta’s odds shortened dramatically in the next Premier League manager to leave their post market. He is now as short as evens with some firms to be the first manager to go and a heavy defeat today would be disastrous for him. The Gunners have spent more than any other club during this transfer window (£132m) and the board and fans will want to see some sort of return on that investment.

Ben White was the costliest purchase at £50m. The former Brighton man had a debut to forget at Brentford and the jury is out on whether he is capable of being the dominant centre back that Arsenal need so badly. Mari looked shaky beside him and we saw the Arsenal version of Xhaka rather than the Euro 2020 Switzerland version. On the positive side, Saka should be fit to start on Sunday and Smith-Rowe was one of the few players to come out of last week’s defeat with any credit. However, it is at the back where Arsenal’s main issues are and with Lukaku coming to town, it could well be another tough day’s work for The Gunners.

Chelsea

Thomas Tuchel’s men were tipped up by quite a few experts to win the Premier League. They didn’t disappoint in Gameweek 1 against Crystal Palace. Alonso, Pulisic and Chalobah all found the back of the net in a dominant 3-0 win and the result was never really in doubt. What was really encouraging for The Blues was the fact that they won so handsomely even without key midfielder N’Golo Kante. He missed out with an ankle injury but he should be available for selection on Sunday.

Chelsea have had some Covid issues of their own. Both Pulisic and Loftus-Cheek have tested positive and they’ll be absent this weekend. Hakim Ziyech is another doubt with a shoulder injury but he could be fit to take his place on the bench. Of those that are missing, only Pulisic started against Palace and with Lukaku coming into the squad, Tuchel will still have plenty of options in attack.

Freedom To Attack

As Chelsea showed against Palace, they are a solid outfit. Tuchel’s favoured formation is 3-4-2-1 and it suits these players well. Wing back Marcos Alonso and centre back Chalobah both scored v Palace, demonstrating the freedom this Chelsea team has to attack. Rudiger, Chalobah and Christensen started as the three centre backs last weekend with Thiago Silva on the bench. Alonso and Azpilicueta played on the flanks but Ben Chilwell is another option there for Tuchel vs Arsenal.

If Kante is available surely he will start in the engine room alongside Jorginho or Kovacic. Werner may be used in a deeper role with Lukaku coming in to spearhead the Chelsea attack. The German striker struggled to lead the line last season and he may well be better suited to playing with a big man like Lukaku. At this moment in time, Chelsea look a far stronger team than Arsenal and you would have to fancy them to end their poor recent run of results against The Gunners on Sunday.

Arsenal vs Chelsea H2H

Arsenal vs Chelsea Betting Tip

The Gunners are unbeaten in their last four vs Chelsea. However, it wouldn’t be wise to read into that too much as Frank Lampard was in charge for three of those matches. They did manage to nick a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge last season in what was a real smash and grab job. Even though they have home advantage on Sunday, Arteta will likely stick to the same blueprint to try and get something from this match.

However, after seeing how much trouble Toney caused them last weekend, you would have to worry for Arsenal. Chelsea will likely hand Lukaku his debut and it is not hard to imagine him having a field day against an Arsenal defence that lacks physicality. The big Belgian will give Chelsea a focal point and given that he already has bags of Premier League experience, he will likely hit the ground running.

The return of Kante is a huge boost too. He was missing when Arsenal won at Stamford Bridge and he will help ensure Chelsea don’t get caught on the counter like they did last season. It is impossible to fancy Arsenal on what they produced vs Brentford so the recommended bet is Chelsea -1 at odds of 9/4.

Arsenal vs Chelsea Betting Tip: Chelsea -1 @ 9/4

Key Manager Quotes

Mikel Arteta: ‘If you don’t feel pressure in this sport I think you picked the wrong profession. It’s responsibility it’s not pressure. We have the responsibility to do our best in any circumstances. Unfortunately in other circumstances they are uncontrollable. The only thing that is going to happen is something that you don’t expect, that’s for sure.’

Thomas Tuchel: ‘They had a bit of a rough start and from their perspective it can be a help that a big rival from within the city arrives. It can create a situation where they stick together and try to win their crowd over with a strong performance. So we should be prepared for the best Arsenal possible. They have a strong coach, strong team, strong signings, so we should prepare for the best Arsenal possible.’

Dave Stevos