Arsenal v Chelsea Betting Preview – EFL Cup 24th January 8.00pm
There was nothing separating them in the first leg at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea were misfiring badly up front and Arsenal were content enough to sit back and get back to the Emirates for this second leg. Both will have to play much better than they did respectively in the first leg. No doubt this London derby will be a tough battle for both of them and while Chelsea go as favourites the Gunners will be pretty hungry as this is their last chance at silverware on the domestic front.
Arsenal v Chelsea EFL Cup Betting Tips
Arsenal have not been in the greatest form recently as Arsene Wenger himself has come under some big pressure with just the one win in their last six played. That lone victory in the sequence did happen on the weekend as they smashed Crystal Palace 4-1 at the Emirates in the Premier League. They really needed that as it snapped a five match winless streak that they were running along on.
There has to be concerns over Arsenal’s defence as the have conceded six goals in their last three games at the Emirates. They have only managed the one clean sheet in their last seven fixtures home and away across all competitions. Arsenal hosted Chelsea in the Premier League at the Emirates back on January 3rd and the two played out a 2-2 draw there with the Gunners equalising in the 90th minute. The first leg of this semi final at Stamford Bridge was a bit of non-event and Arsenal never looked as if they were trying to score but both teams to score at bet365 is probably going to have some appeal at odds of 4/6* (Betting Odds taken on January 21st, 2018 at 9:51 p.m.).
The two rivals have met four times already this season and all of those other four were drawn matches (90 minutes). The meetings came in two Premier League fixtures, the Community Shield and the EFL Cup semi-final first leg. So there really once again shouldn’t be too much to choose between them on the night and that is reflected in the bet365 correct score market where the 1-1 draw is the shortest-priced option at 11/2. Arsenal have claimed only the one victory in their last eight home fixtures against the Blues (all competitions). The thing about Arsenal here is that this is the last piece of domestic silverware that they can chase down after failing in the third round of their FA Cup title defence. So that’s reason enough to see them fired up for this home game and got the boost of Mesut Ozil returning over the weekend in their beating of Crystal Palace in the Premier League. The winner of the fixture will play the winner of the Man City v Bristol City tie at Wembley in the final.
Chelsea were in desperate need of a win and they got one on the weekend, delivering a comprehensive 4-0 road win out at Brighton down at the Amex Stadium. That was an important result for the Blues who have already played six games in the new year, because it snapped a five-match sequence of draws that they were on in all competitions (three of them were 0-0 draws at that). So they were struggling in front of goal, but Eden Hazard and Willian were superb on the weekend against the Seagulls but the Blues don’t have an out and out striker in form. Away from Stamford Bridge, they are on a five-match unbeaten streak of form with a W2 D3 record, and overall they have been in impressive defensive form. Chelsea have collected three clean sheets in their last four away games and overall home and away they have take seven clean sheets in their last nine games. The Blues have failed to win any of their last five games against Arsenal but still go as favourites for this one. In the bet365 To Qualify market Chelsea are 4/6 to reach Wembley with the Gunners at 6/5 to progress* (Betting Odds taken on January 21th, 2018 at 9:11 p.m.)
Arsenal v Chelsea EFL Cup Betting Odds*
Chelsea 5/4, Arsenal 21/10, Draw 12/5* (Betting Odds taken on January 21th, 2018 at 9:11 p.m.)
Arsenal v Chelsea EFL Cup Predictions
Chelsea look the favourites to go through and it is worth going with them. They are the stronger of the two defensively and while they have struggled lately a bit for goals they are the better of the two sides at the moment and can edge what will probably be a tense London derby.
