Saturday 24th September 2016 Kickoff: 1730hrs
Arsenal v Chelsea
Football – England – Premier League
This weekend’s Saturday night football is a massive London derby at the Emirates with Arsenal entertaining Chelsea. Both teams come into the game on the back of wins in the League Cup midweek but they return to the real business of pushing for Premier League points and trying to close the gap on leaders Manchester City. This fixture rarely passes without incidence and gained even more prominence because of the Wenger-Mourinho feud, and even though only one of those managers will be in the dugout tomorrow, we can still expect some fireworks.
It was the worst possible start to the season for Arsenal as they went down 4-3 at home to Liverpool on the opening day of the campaign, despite taking the lead in that match. They followed that up with a relatively dull goalless draw away to current champions Leicester and the knives were already out for Arsene Wenger who continues to attract criticism for the lack of success at Arsenal this past decade. Since that game, however, the Gunners have been able to string together a run of good form with three straight leagues wins against Watford, Southampton and Hull, and also gaining an important point in Paris against PSG in the Champions League, as well as a very comfortable 4-0 victory away to Nottingham Forest in the League Cup. Those games have set them up nicely for the visit of Chelsea which will be their biggest domestic test since the game against Liverpool and one you think they have to win if they are to have a realistic chance of winning the league title. They sit on 10 points at the moment – five adrift of City – and despite the early stage we’re at, the form of Pep Guardiola’s men means they really have to keep apace with them by getting all three points here.
Chelsea are on something of a recovery mission this weekend after their last couple of league games. A 2-2 draw away to Swansea a fortnight ago was the first time an Antonio Conte coached Chelsea team had failed to win a league game but the biggest disappointment thus far was the 2-1 reverse at home to Liverpool last Friday night. The Blues looked set for more frustration in midweek as they went down two goals away to Leicester in the League Cup but to their credit they recovered very well and ended up winning the game in extra time. The additional 30 minutes of play would not have been ideal for Conte but he would have been delighted with the attitude and desire his players shown, and that’s something he’ll be looking for again this weekend. The club were certainly mentioned as genuine title challengers before the season started, and that opinion was only reinforced by winning their first three games against West Ham, Watford and Burnley. It would be ridiculous to suggest they cannot win the league if they were to fail to win this encounter with so much football left to be played, but they have to demonstrate a capability of winning games against the other top teams and this derby match at the Emirates certainly is one of those challenges.
Only Man City have scored more goals than Arsenal this season and that’s including one game when drawing a blank. That small sample would suggest that Wenger has plenty of firepower to call upon but the lack of a top class striker is one of the biggest frustrations amongst the club’s supporters. Alexis Sanchez is the top scorer this term but he rarely plays centrally whilst Theo Walcott and Oliver Giroud are usually selected to fill that role – although neither fully convinces at the top level. Lucas Perez was brought in towards the end of the transfer window but he’s another player who has yet to prove himself of the level required for Arsenal to win a title. All in, they will rack up plenty of goals against weaker opposition but it’s in those tighter games where the lack of genuine class up top may come back to haunt them – Wenger will be hoping that Saturday is not one of them.
We often associate Chelsea with being well organized and hard to beat but it has been defensive issues that have blighted them over the past season and their inability to keep clean sheets is a major cause for concern if you are Conte. The home win over Burnley at the end of August was only the second time they have managed to prevent the opposition scoring in the league in their last 19 games. That’s a far cry from the teams that were so successful under Mourinho and is clearly an area that the new manager will have to address to restore those glories. The re-signing of David Luiz appears to have done little to help matters whilst the absence of John Terry again this weekend will be a blow as he is the organizer at the back.
Arsenal v Chelsea Betting Tips
As you can imagine, there’s little love lost between these two clubs and we should be set for an engaging and entertaining 90 minutes on Saturday evening. Both clubs have to prove they are capable of beating the top teams having failed in their only tests so far, both coming up short against Liverpool. There are of course doubts about the credentials of the two and whether or not they have the ability to better the likes of Manchester City over the course of 38 games, but a win for either on Saturday would go a long way to enhancing that belief. Only goal difference separates the two and I think that’s an indication of the kind of game we can expect tomorrow – there will be little between them.
I have alluded to Chelsea’s poor defensive record and Arsenal are not much better having kept only one clean sheet in their first five league games. Games between the two are often played at a frenetic pace which you would expect from a derby game and whilst the stats do not back it up (none of the last eight meeting has ended with both teams scoring) all the evidence from this season certainly points in the direction of neither team keeping a clean sheet.
Both teams to score 8/13 @ Stan James
