The extended Premier League weekend concludes with the title race back in the spotlight on Tuesday evening when title chasers Arsenal host London rivals Chelsea in a huge clash at the Emirates Stadium.
Arsenal will move back to the top of the table if they can come out on top in this match while Chelsea are just playing to avoid the embarrassment of finishing in the bottom half of the table, which would be unheard of.
Where to watch
The match will be shown live and in full on the Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Premier League channels with an extended build-up beginning at 6.30pm and kick off coming at 8pm.
Arsenal
This has been a very positive season for Arsenal, who very early in the piece became the only title challengers to Manchester City. The Gunners have put up a wonderful fight for the title but it does look as though the relentless pressure that City have put on them has finally made them crack, but regardless of what happens over the remainder of this month, Arsenal should be applauded for the campaign they have put together.
They won’t want their title challenge to whimper out meekly though and a London derby against a supposed fellow big six team should get their juices and pulses flowing. Arsenal head into the match without a win in four matches so they will be keen to end that winless slump in this one and see what comes. That winless spell has coincided with a key defensive injury and the goals have flowed in the wrong end in that time which isn’t ideal.
Chelsea
You probably can’t put into words how bad this season has been for Chelsea. The fact that they are on a third manager and only getting worse goes to show how bad it is but also how many wrong decisions they have made over the course of the season. It is impossible to believe how bad things have been for Chelsea this term and there doesn’t appear any signs of things turning. That is the one thing they must change in their remaining six matches.
The big issue for the Blues has been scoring goals. It has been a problem since Graham Potter arrived and even more so under Frank Lampard and the Londoners now have just one goal in their last five matches. The lack of a number nine has been an issue throughout the campaign and incredibly wasn’t rectified in January so Lampard will need to hope the magnitude of this match forces a display out of the stars in this team.
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Team News
The key defensive absentee which has coincided with the winless run Arsenal are currently on is William Saliba and Mikel Arteta admitted he was unlikely to return for this match. Takehiro Tomiyasu and Mohamed Elneny are out too.
Chelsea have an extensive injury list to overcome going into this match. Reece James, Mason Mount and Marc Cucurella are all out while Kalidou Koulibaly and Kai Havertz face fitness tests before their availability is known.
Betting
While the goalscoring record of Chelsea is a concern heading into this match, the fact that Arsenal haven’t kept a clean sheet in six matches and the likes of West Ham and Southampton have scored two and three against them in that time makes me think that we will get goals in this game. Chelsea aren’t having too much of a problem creating big chances. Converting them is another story but the magnitude of the game and the intense atmosphere will hopefully focus their star players to bring out their better football. For all Chelsea have tactical and psychological issues, these players individually are not terrible.
Arsenal might be shipping more goals than they would want to but they are still scoring them. In these six matches where goals have flowed, they have found the net on 16 occasions and I’m not convinced that is going to change in any way in this match so over 2.5 goals feels like a major player here. Arsenal have conceded the first goal on a few occasions recently and if they do that again they’ll need to risk everything because a draw is no use to them at all. It feels like a match that will be full of goals, particularly if the attacking players Chelsea have come to the party.
Tips
Back Over 2.5 goals for a 3/10 stake at 1.75 with Betfair
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