This really is a fresh start for the Gunners this season as the Arsene Wenger era has ended and the Unai Emery one begins. Emery is known as being a much tougher task-master than Wenger ever was and it will be interesting to see how that plays itself out this season. The Gunners could only finish down in sixth place last season behind fellow Londoners Spurs and Chelsea and the Gunners are 5/2 at William Hill* (betting odds taken from August 2nd, 2018 at 6:19 pm) to be the Top London Club this season. They certainly have some ground to make up on the aforementioned two.
The first big moves that Emery addressed at the club was fixing a defence that was, by and large, a shambles last season. As well as spending a fair chunk on new goalkeeper Bernd Leno, Emery has gotten the experienced right back services of Stephan Lichtsteiner along with Greek centre-half Sokratis coming in. They have a bit of extra grit and steel with the signing of Lucas Torreira who could turn out to be a hugely important signing for them in terms of providing an edge of combativeness.
The Gunners had a soft underbelly last season and were exposed time and time again. They were bullied on the road posting a shocking W4 D4 L11 record for the season away from the Emirates so they need that grit and power to keep them ticking over. It is a tricky situation for Emery as he will be under pressure right from the off to bust Arsenal out of the mediocrity that they fell into under Wenger. Unfortunately with the power of Manchester City and Liverpool at the moment, their chances of winning the league in the near future look slim.
They do have a big goalscoring asset in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang who is a very appealing 6/1 odds option* (betting odds taken from August 2nd, 2018 at 6:19 pm) in the Top Goalscorer market for the Premier League 2018/19 season. After joining Arsenal back in the January transfer window, he fired off ten goals in thirteen league games for Arsenal which didn’t get as much attention as it should have. It shows that the scoring power is there though for Arsenal with support coming in from Alexandre Lacazette.
Premier League Outright Winner Odds*
Manchester City 4/6
Liverpool 4/1
Man Utd 7/1
Chelsea 12/1
Tottenham 16/1
Arsenal 20/1
Bar 250/1
* (betting odds taken from William Hill on August 2nd, 2018 at 6:19 pm)
With the former Borussia Dortmund pairing of Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Aubameyang combining and of course the creativity of Mesut Ozil, then the Gunners should be fine going forward. It is going to be all about what kind of strength that the spine of the team has. Can they hold their focus early in matches and not have to continuously play catch up? This season Arsenal will be having a crack at the Europa League which is a nasty and awkward distraction and it may well be worth Emery sacrificing that Thursday night action to get them back on track on the domestic front first. They will certainly aim to be in the top four at the end of the season. Arsenal are 2/1 odds in the Top 4 Finish betting market* (betting odds taken from August 2nd, 2018 at 6:19 pm).
Fixture List
Unai Emery will be looking at the start of the season that Arsenal have and be thinking that someone is playing a cruel joke on him. Arsenal start their campaign against the reigning champions Manchester City on Sunday, August 12th and even though the Gunners are at home in that one they are 9/4 underdogs at William Hill to land the victory there* (betting odds taken from August 2nd, 2018 at 6:19 pm). That’s a tough introduction for the Gunners, especially after losing the corresponding fixture 3-0 last term. Then it doesn’t let up because the following weekend they will go straight into their first London derby of the season as they make the trip to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea.
Things then do ease up because they won’t meet another of the Big 6 until they go up against Liverpool at the start of November. So that is at least two big games out of the way at the start of the season. They have a very nice end of season run-in as well, do the Gunners. Their final match for the forthcoming season against another of the Big 6 is against Manchester United in early March. So that leaves them with an eight-game stretch at the back end of the season without a top-six contender to have to duel with. How important will that be for them?
Prediction
We are all over having a punt on Aubameyang to finish as the Premier League top goalscorer just because he scores goals wherever he goes and he proved his value in the second half of last season. He looks good value to challenge Harry Kane and Mo Salah. Emery has had a good summer with his squad and while they could use an extra centre-half for some depth, there is a temptation to have a punt on them cracking the top four.
That would only be because of Tottenham’s unwillingness to get out the chequebook and Manchester United looking a bit out of sorts pre-season. But just because of where they are starting from, we can’t back it and they 2/5 to NOT finish in the top four* (betting odds taken from August 2nd, 2018 at 6:19 pm). A top six finish again, but they’ll miss the top four.
