The latest round of Premier League fixtures concludes with the usual double header of action on Sunday as four more sides are in action each needing points for their own agendas.
The first game sees Roberto Martinez taking on his former side as Everton host Swansea at Goodison Park ahead of the game of the weekend when Arsenal host Chelsea at the Emirates.
Swansea’s need for the three points is clear for all to see. They came out of the relegation zone on Monday night and another win here would give them some real breathing space between them and the drop.
Everton dropped back into the bottom half of the table after Saturday’s results but a win here will see them move back above Watford into 10th place so they have a bit of an incentive but how much focus this game gets ahead of a Capital One Cup semi-final in midweek remains to be seen.
This will be Francesco Guidolin’s first match in charge of Swansea and it will be interesting to see how they go about both their business from an attacking point of view and how to stop Romelu Lukaku, a task which isn’t easy at the best of times.
Everton aren’t really a side you can trust this season though. They have drawn 11 of their 22 matches and often drawn matches they’ve been in complete control of and factoring in the unknown about Swansea under their new coach I’ll leave this one be.
The big game has more appeal about it both from a watching point of view and a betting one. Arsenal have drawn their last two matches but respect must be given to away games at Liverpool and Stoke especially with Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez missing at Stoke. Both are expected to return for the Gunners in this match and that immediately boosts them no end.
Chelsea have improved since Guus Hiddink took over but they haven’t ever really convinced and a feature of their entire season has been the number of goals they’ve been conceding. West Brom, Watford and Everton have all scored two or more against them in recent times and that has to be a concern.
Arsenal have a wretched recent record in this fixture but I think the dynamic of it has changed now that Mourinho isn’t around and I would expect Arsenal to feel much more comfortable against this particular style of opponent.
We’re probably going to get goals in this game but Arsenal’s defence has been performing well in recent times so I would back them to keep it that bit tighter and I can see Arsenal bagging the extra goal they need to win the game. It is a big game though and these games don’t always take off so I’ll take the available draw cover but I’m seeing a home win more likely than an away one.
Back Arsenal (-0.25AH) to beat Chelsea for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with BetVictor
