Arsenal are coming into this match on the back of a very drab 0-0 draw away at Stoke City last weekend. The Gunners have now only lost 1 of their last 9 Premier league matches and currently they top the table on 44 points, ahead of Leicester on goal difference. Arsenal’s recent home record reads a strong looking W9, D4, L2.
When hosting mid table sides Arsenal’s recent home record reads an impressive looking W7, D1, L2 and here Arsene Wenger’s side can be backed at around 2.08 and this looks to offer some decent value.
The recent head-to-head record at the Emirates has a draw bias, and reads Arsenal 1 win, 3 Draws and Chelsea 1 win.
The draw can be backed at around 3.60 and despite the recent head-to-head matches this does not look to offer any real value.
Chelsea are coming into this game unbeaten in 6 matches. Here they are coming off a 3-3 draw at home to Everton. This draw has left Gus Hiddink’s side on 25 points and they are still only 4 points above the drop zone. Chelsea’s recent away record reads a very average W5, D4, L6 and the win at Palace in their last away game was their first in 8 away games.
When visiting the Premier League elite sides Chelsea boast a resilient record which reads W2, D5, L3 and here they can be backed at around 3.90. If you do fancy the blues to carry on their undefeated run, then they can be backed +0.5 goals at around 1.90.
As far as goals are concerned, then we have some very mixed stats. When looking at both sides' last 10 home and away games against similar opposition then we see that 10 of the 20 matches have seen 3 or more goals, whilst 10 have seen 2 or less scored. My ratings suggest that the value lies with Under 2.5 goals which can be backed at around 1.94.
Potentially this is an excellent match up. Looking at the goal line, then there is just too many mixed messages to make a definite call. For my trade I am turning to the match line, where all the value looks to be with the home side. Already this season Arsenal have beaten both Manchester sides and they now look to be serious contenders for the title. Although Chelsea have only won 1 of their last 8 away, there is no doubt the Blues have improved over the past few weeks. However they are coming up against an Arsenal side that have now won 7 of their last 8 home matches. So my recommended trade is Arsenal -0.5 goals at around 2.08