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msudogs
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Chelsea look for their first back-to-back league wins under new boss Enzo Maresca when they make the short journey to East London to face a West Ham side also adjusting to life under a new leader.
The Blues haven't lost in the league since their season opener at home to Manchester City. But they've also scored multiple goals in only one of those four league matches, a 6-2 thumping of Wolverhampton Wanderers.
West Ham have lost their first two home matches under Julien Lopetegui, but those came against defending champion Manchester City and last year's fourth-place finisher Aston Villa. They've taken points from their last two away matches, most recently earning a 1-1 draw at Fulham.
The home side has won five of the last six league meetings between these teams, including both fixtures last season.
Once again, Cole Palmer has found himself at the root of most of the good Chelsea produce in attack, contributing a goal-involvement on five of the Blues' eight tallies so far.
Four of those are assists this time, and three of those — plus his lone goal — came in the Wolves route. And in the long term, Palmer could yet prove to be a player who sets up goals first and scores them second.
His 22-goal season last year came for a squad that lacked an in-form center forward, and it included nine tallies from the penalty spot.
Despite an uneven maiden EPL campaign last season, Nicolas Jackson is still being given the opportunity to prove he can become that established No. 9, having started all four matches. He has two goals and an assist and is the only Chelsea player to have scored in multiple league games.
Lopetegui has already tinkered with formations in his short time in charge, playing the Hammers' first two matches out of a 4-1-4-1, then shifting to a 4-2-3-1 in the last two games.
The key variable there may have been the availability of holding midfielder Edson Alvarez, who spent the first few weeks in the final stages of his recovery from a hamstring injur suffered in Mexico's Copa America opener.
But it took removing Alvarez for forward Danny Ings and adopting a more aggressive posture to find a stoppage-time equalizer in the 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage last weekend.
And the very early returns suggest that 4-1-4-1 leads a more dynamic attack, with the Hammers scoring three goals and creating 3.7 xG across the two games they began in that shape. They scored twice in the latter two matches while generating only 1.5 xG.
Lopetegui is also dealing with some uncertainty up front. Michail Antonio has looked out of rhythm under the new boss, failing to hit the target yet in his six shots. New arrival Niclas Fulkrug has played only 66 minutes and is likely unavailable with an Achilles issue.
We're still learning who both these sides are under their new bosses, but my first reaction here is that the lean toward Chelsea from oddsmakers is a little too strong for a team that has created only slightly more expected goals than it has conceded.
And the Hammers' underlying numbers are also skewed somewhat by already playing two of last season's top four finishers.
But given West Ham's inconsistencies up front, I want to couple a result for the home side with a somewhat lower total to get a better price. The reality is if this game sees five or more goals scored, that's bad news for Lopetegui's group.
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09-20-24 10:12 PM |
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msudogs
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Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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Tottenham look to rebound from back to back losses when they host Brentford for a London Derby.
Spurs were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal in the North London Derby on Sunday, which means they have only picked up four points in their first four matches. Ange Postecoglu's build up system isn't working and Tottenham need to make a change, as they've been incredibly inefficient in creating high quality chances. The bad news is they are facing one of the more difficult defensive teams to play through on Saturday.
Brentford gave Manchester City everything that they could handle last Saturday, scoring inside the first 30 seconds, but ultimately they ended up losing the match 2-1. The Bees have looked good to begin the season and have historically given the Big Six fits ever since they were promoted to the Premier League. They've only lost twice to Tottenham in their last six meetings and will be a live underdog on Saturday.
Tottenham are having a lot of problems in possession right now that are not suddenly going to be fixed when they play Brentford.
In two straight weeks they faced a team that has sat in a mid to low block for a majority of the match and they have taken 35 shots and have only created 1.9 expected goals off of those chances. The biggest problem that Tottenham have right now is they don’t have wingers who can beat the opposing fullbacks in 1 v 1 situations. Brennan Johnson and Heung Min Son are below the 50th percentile for successful take ons in the last calendar year, which means teams like Arsenal and Newcastle have played very compactly to deny any space through the middle and let Tottenham get the ball into wide areas.
The other problem is the midfield area gets so congested that even if Tottenham have a 6 v 5 or 5 v 4 overload there is no space to quickly move the ball through the opponent's defensive block. James Maddison will continually drop deep to try and pull a defender out of position, but Tottenham are not able to find a way through. In addition to that, when the center backs have the ball, the space from them to the rest of the attacking line is too far away, so the ball either ends up going side to side and once it goes backwards, teams like Brentford will have that as a trigger to press Tottenham.
Brentford came out of the gates with their hair on fire against Manchester City and scored inside the first 30 seconds of the match. They didn’t simply sit deep, absorb pressure and look to counter. They pressed Manchester City high and caused all sorts of problems in the first 20 minutes of the match. With that being said, overall they’ve been a very passive team, as they have the highest PPDA in the league right now. They are likely going to sit in their usual 5-3-2 and deny space in the middle of the pitch and force the ball into wide areas. Manchester City did create 2.1 expected goals, but their biggest chance came on a direct ball to Haaland over top of Brentford’s man to man press. Outside of that, Brentford limited City to a lot of low quality efforts.
What the Bees have shown so far this season is that they are still incredibly dangerous on set pieces and continue to be dangerous in transition. They did have trouble breaking against Manchester City’s press, but against Southampton and Liverpool they combined for 10 counterattacking shots. Yoane Wissa is out for an extended period of time, but Brentford can easily play a front three of Shade, Mbuemo and Lewis-Potter and still be effective.
Set pieces will be a massive advantage they have over Tottenham. Last year they created the second-most expected goals off of set pieces and despite losing their set piece coach to Chelsea, they are still top five in xG per set piece, while Tottenham have allowed the third-most expected goals off of set pieces this season.
This is a really good spot for Brentford given how well they can defend in their 5-3-2 against Tottenham's build up. The only winger that Tottenham have that can consistently beat defenders in 1 v 1 situations is Wilson Odobert, who they brought over from Burnley and was in the 99th percentile for successful take ons last season, but I am not sure he's going to start in this match.
Brentford can also capitalize on the two main weaknesses of Tottenham's defense. The Bees primarily play as a direct counterattacking team, which will be a good matchup against Tottenham's poor transition defense, and the Bees are one of the better set piece teams in the Premier League.
Here is one final stat: there were only four teams in the Premier League that had a positive xGD on the road last season: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Brentford.
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09-20-24 10:46 PM |
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msudogs
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Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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Liverpool will try to get back to winning ways at home when Bournemouth visit Anfield on Saturday.
The Reds succumbed to a shock 1-0 league loss to Nottingham Forest in their previous home fixture before bouncing back for a 3-1 victory at AC Milan to open their UEFA Champions League campaign.
Meanwhile, the Cherries visit Anfield following a 1-0 league loss at home to Chelsea and a full week's rest, having already tasted defeat in the League Cup back in August.
Liverpool have won the last three fixtures between these sides and the last five played at home.
It's been a stong start for Arne Slot as Liverpool's new manager, even considering the upset defeat to Forest.
The Reds have led opponents in expected goals in all five matches they've played in all competitions and held opponents to 0.6 xG or fewer in all but one of those matches. And save for conceding early to Milan and U.S. National Team winger Christian Pulisic, Slot's men were dominant in their midweek to the San Siro and well deserving of their 3-1 win to open the league phase.
Mo Salah and Luis Diaz are up to their old tricks in Premier League play with three goals each.
Slot has eased winger Federico Chiesa into the fold after he completed a move from Juventus at the summer transfer window deadline. The left winger came on for the final minute plus stoppage time of the San Siro victory. Perhaps he'll be called upon for more minutes on Saturday as Slot begins to think about squad rotation to manage the eight additional games from the UCL league phase.
The results to begin year two under Andoni Iraola have been perfectly acceptable for the Cherries, but there's definitely the look of a team still sorting out how to replace the production it lost with Dominic Solanke's summer departure.
Even accounting for their stunning 3-2 triumph at Everton two weekends ago — a match in which they trailed 2-0 late — Bournemouth have struggled to make good on the chances it has created and is currently lagging its xG predictions by more than two goals.
And summer signing Evanilson — essentially the man tasked with replacing Solanke — is the biggest culprit, having failed to open his Premier League account despite having 1.9 xG worth of chances.
That said, Bournemouth have tightly contested every match they've played and arguably deserved better both from their home matches so far, a 1-1 draw to Newcastle and 1-0 defeat to Chelsea. And perhaps there's a continuation of a trend we saw at times last year when the Cherries were more comfortable as an away side.
The over/under set at 3.5 goals suggests a strong possibility of an attacking avalanche. But that wasn't really the case with Bournemouth's away matches last season, and it may be even less likely in the wake of Solanke's departure.
While the Cherries did stick with their high-pressing philosophy regardless of opponent, the ceiling on total goals very rarely went over four. Liverpool were more likely to see five or more goals in their games, but not when playing the bottom half of the table at home.
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09-21-24 01:42 PM |
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msudogs
Moderator
Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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Week 5 of the English Premier League begins on Saturday, September 21, with a matchup between 17th-place Ipswich Town and 19th-place Southampton, as the two teams battle to stay out of the EPL relegation zone.
Southampton vs. Ipswich Town Odds
Southampton +118 // Ipswich Town +220
Total: 2.5 (-132/+105)
Two of the newly promoted sides clash at St Mary’s this weekend, and as expected, both sit in the bottom four going into this round of fixtures. Southampton posted a fourth straight defeat in as many league games against Manchester United last weekend. Also, yet to win a league game this season, Ipswich make the journey to the south-coast fourth from bottom with two points on the board after successive draws. Considering their first two games were against Liverpool and Manchester City it is little more than most expected.
The Tractor Boys 0-0 draw at Brighton last weekend was not only a welcome point but also the added boost of a first clean sheet of the season.
My view of this meeting is that it is huge but not one both sides must win – more one neither can afford to lose.
The Saints would get their first point on the board, and it would be seen as a building block to progress, especially with what look like winnable fixtures against Bournemouth and Leicester coming up. For Ipswich, it would extend their unbeaten run to three games and keep that two-point buffer between them and one of their EPL relegation rivals.
The stats from this season show that these teams are the two lowest scorers in the EPL, with Southampton hitting the back of the net once from their four games and Ipswich twice.
Russell Martin has yet to see his side score on home soil. Their most comparable game to facing Ipswich was their 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest, in which they posted the lowest expected goals rating (0.21) of any club in the top flight so far this campaign. The Saints couldn’t break down Newcastle on the opening weekend despite playing against 10 men for more than an hour.
Kieran McKenna’s men have shown little in attack across their four games, regularly posting xG of less than 1.0. When these two met here last season at a similar time (the 7th round of games), it ended in a 1-0 away win.
In summary, we have the two lowest scorers in the division, two sides destined to be fighting EPL relegation all season, two teams I wouldn’t trust in goal-scoring markets, and we are able to back Under 2.5 goals at plus money. That looks great value.
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09-21-24 02:30 PM |
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msudogs
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Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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Tottenham look to rebound from back to back losses when they host Brentford for a London Derby.
Spurs were beaten 1-0 by Arsenal in the North London Derby on Sunday, which means they have only picked up four points in their first four matches. Ange Postecoglu's build up system isn't working and Tottenham need to make a change, as they've been incredibly inefficient in creating high quality chances. The bad news is they are facing one of the more difficult defensive teams to play through on Saturday.
Brentford gave Manchester City everything that they could handle last Saturday, scoring inside the first 30 seconds, but ultimately they ended up losing the match 2-1. The Bees have looked good to begin the season and have historically given the Big Six fits ever since they were promoted to the Premier League. They've only lost twice to Tottenham in their last six meetings and will be a live underdog on Saturday.
Tottenham are having a lot of problems in possession right now that are not suddenly going to be fixed when they play Brentford.
In two straight weeks they faced a team that has sat in a mid to low block for a majority of the match and they have taken 35 shots and have only created 1.9 expected goals off of those chances. The biggest problem that Tottenham have right now is they don’t have wingers who can beat the opposing fullbacks in 1 v 1 situations. Brennan Johnson and Heung Min Son are below the 50th percentile for successful take ons in the last calendar year, which means teams like Arsenal and Newcastle have played very compactly to deny any space through the middle and let Tottenham get the ball into wide areas.
The other problem is the midfield area gets so congested that even if Tottenham have a 6 v 5 or 5 v 4 overload there is no space to quickly move the ball through the opponent's defensive block. James Maddison will continually drop deep to try and pull a defender out of position, but Tottenham are not able to find a way through. In addition to that, when the center backs have the ball, the space from them to the rest of the attacking line is too far away, so the ball either ends up going side to side and once it goes backwards, teams like Brentford will have that as a trigger to press Tottenham.
Brentford came out of the gates with their hair on fire against Manchester City and scored inside the first 30 seconds of the match. They didn’t simply sit deep, absorb pressure and look to counter. They pressed Manchester City high and caused all sorts of problems in the first 20 minutes of the match. With that being said, overall they’ve been a very passive team, as they have the highest PPDA in the league right now. They are likely going to sit in their usual 5-3-2 and deny space in the middle of the pitch and force the ball into wide areas. Manchester City did create 2.1 expected goals, but their biggest chance came on a direct ball to Haaland over top of Brentford’s man to man press. Outside of that, Brentford limited City to a lot of low quality efforts.
What the Bees have shown so far this season is that they are still incredibly dangerous on set pieces and continue to be dangerous in transition. They did have trouble breaking against Manchester City’s press, but against Southampton and Liverpool they combined for 10 counterattacking shots. Yoane Wissa is out for an extended period of time, but Brentford can easily play a front three of Shade, Mbuemo and Lewis-Potter and still be effective.
Set pieces will be a massive advantage they have over Tottenham. Last year they created the second-most expected goals off of set pieces and despite losing their set piece coach to Chelsea, they are still top five in xG per set piece, while Tottenham have allowed the third-most expected goals off of set pieces this season.
This is a really good spot for Brentford given how well they can defend in their 5-3-2 against Tottenham's build up. The only winger that Tottenham have that can consistently beat defenders in 1 v 1 situations is Wilson Odobert, who they brought over from Burnley and was in the 99th percentile for successful take ons last season, but I am not sure he's going to start in this match.
Brentford can also capitalize on the two main weaknesses of Tottenham's defense. The Bees primarily play as a direct counterattacking team, which will be a good matchup against Tottenham's poor transition defense, and the Bees are one of the better set piece teams in the Premier League.
Here is one final stat: there were only four teams in the Premier League that had a positive xGD on the road last season: Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Brentford.
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09-21-24 03:20 PM |
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msudogs
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Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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With the most exciting game on Sunday, in my opinion, Brighton will be hosting Nottingham Forest in the early morning slot here in the States.
Coming off a historic win at Anfield, Nottingham Forest look to maintain their positive run of form, remaining unbeaten after four matches with both of their wins on the road.
Brighton are looking to bring back that glorious eye-candy of football they played week-after-week under Roberto De Zerbi, this time with a new face at the helm: Fabian Hurzeler. The Gulls are still a sleeping giant, also remaining unbeaten this season, but the eye-test proves that there seems to be a drop-off in terms of aesthetics to their overall play.
Brighton are a very solid team that always seems to give every team they play a lot of trouble. Oddly enough, their most recent match against Ipswich Town, who have only played in the Premier League once this century, ended in a 0-0 draw. This might be an indicator to the spectators that Brighton may be on their way back down to Earth now that the De Zerbi Era of Brighton football is behind them.
However, American manager Fabian Hurzeler has done a solid job of keeping Brighton competitive, picking up a win against Manchester United and an away draw at Arsenal. One thing that’s concerning me in terms of team selection for this upcoming match is the status of Brighton’s top goal-contributor, Joao Pedro. Pedro was absent in that 0-0 barn burner against Ipswich, picking up a knock while away on international duty with Brazil the week prior. Pedro is Brighton’s top-scorer, and the obvious choice for the No. 10 role in the side, but with the status of his injury remaining uncertain, it’s likely we see Georgina Rutter in his place.
However, Brighton should be able to lean on their exceptional wing-play with Kaoru Mitoma and Yankuba Minteh. Most notably, Mitoma is averaging just over 1.0 key passes per 90 and a dribble success rate of 37.5%. This makes him one of the most dangerous dribblers in the league, highlighting his ability to cause problems for defenses with his big chance creation.
Nottingham Forest are off to a great start after a full offseason with new manager Nuno Esposito Santo. They have also made some good signings to help their side in Elliot Anderson from Newcastle, Nikola Milenkovic from Fiorentina and James Ward-Prowse from West Ham. All three of these signings played a part in defeating Liverpool at Anfield in the previous match week. Coming into this week against Brighton, I think there will definitely be a defensive emphasis placed on limiting the Brighton wingers to try and cut inside to create chances like we saw last weekend at Liverpool. Nottingham have done a remarkable job defensively this season, seemingly shutting everything their opponents throw at them while dictating the pace of the game.
Brighton have always been a personal favorite team of mine to bet on. But I think my money will be on Nuno’s Tricky Trees this weekend. Nottingham’s performance this season has been too strong to deny, and I don’t trust Brighton to adapt quick enough to Nuno’s tactics he has planned for them. In terms of market respect, Nottingham opened the season with about the same respect as they were getting under Steve Cooper.
Nowadays, I do think the market is still a bit short on them, but that will likely change if this team keeps getting results. I think the price on the Double Chance line is worth taking, but my money will be on the moneyline. I think this is a fantastic spot for Nottingham Forest, and we may not see a price like this on them again this season against a team that’s not all that much better than them. As Brad Pitt once said to his Oakland A’s in Moneyball, “you may not look like a good team, but you are one.”
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09-22-24 01:44 PM |
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msudogs
Moderator
Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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Brighton vs. Nottingham Forest Odds
Brighton -130 // Nottingham Forest +353
Total: 2.5 (-133/+108)
In England, we talk about the “curse” of winning Manager of the Month. Well, the curse struck again last weekend as the winner of August’s award Fabian Hürzeler saw his Brighton side draw 0-0 against newly promoted Ipswich at odds of -$3.
That being said, he is still unbeaten in his first four EPL games in charge, built on a defense that has conceded only two goals. Maybe he will have one eye on setting a record, as the Seagulls have never managed to go without defeat in their first five games of a top-flight season.
This week, they take on Nottingham Forest, the team that last weekend posted the performance of the season so far, going to Liverpool and coming away with a 1-0 win—arguably the best result in Nuno Espírito Santo’s time at the club.
The former Wolves and Spurs manager is known for being quite defensively minded and that is shown in every one of their five games across all competitions this season has cashed for Under 2.5 goals bettors.
This game last season took place as recently as March and ended in a 1-0 win for Brighton, and in the 2022/23 season, it ended goalless.
Forest have laid the foundations to be a good side this year. Very solid at the back, they don’t concede many chances but with players that suit Nuno’s counter attacking system. Chris Wood is a willing (and able) target man, allowing the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Anthony Elanga, and Morgan Gibbs-White to work off him.
This could be a lot closer than many may think, and I am sure Forest will use the same template that saw them keep a clean sheet and take all three points from Anfield. What I was surprised about was being able to get plus money on Under 2.5 goals, and it completes my trilogy of EPL games to be low-scoring this weekend.
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09-22-24 01:49 PM |
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msudogs
Moderator
Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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The biggest match of the Premier League season so far takes place at the Etihad, as Man City battle Arsenal.
Manchester City and Arsenal have battled two straight years now for the Premier League title with Manchester City coming out on top on both occasions. Manchester City are in a difficult run of matches, as they were tested by Brentford last Saturday, drew Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday and now will have to face the team that gave them the most trouble last season.
Arsenal are also in a difficult stretch. They won the North London Derby 1-0 over Tottenham but had to play on Thursday in Italy against Atalanta. They now have to face the Premier League champions, making it three away matches in a week. Arsenal are also dealing with some injuries to key players, which makes this trip to Manchester even more difficult.
Pep Guardiola didn’t start any of his traditional wingers as Foden and Silva were always looking to invert into the midfield to create a 5 v 4, but the space was so tight that Manchester City couldn’t pick out any passes to them, so the possession became stale and they struggled to create chances. Manchester City got an early big chance from Nathan Ake in the 15th minute, but for the remainder of the match they did not attempt a shot with an xG rating over 0.10. Most importantly, Erling Haaland was limited to just three shots in the match.
What Manchester City need to do in this match is start both Doku and Savinho. Arsenal are likely going to allow them to go 1 v 1 against White and Timber because they need to make sure they always have a double on Haaland. However, Pep has shown time and time again he puts too much emphasis on dominating the middle of the pitch, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he decides to start only one or neither of them.
The status of Kevin De Bruyne is also very crucial. He's questionable to play in this game and if he doesn't Manchester City are going to have a really hard time playing through Arsenal's defensive block. Nobody else on Manchester City has his passing range and ability to create chances from outside the box. That was very evident when he missed the first meeting against Arsenal last season and City were only able to manage four shots and 0.4 expected goals.
Arsenal went to Tottenham with the approach that they were going to sit deep, absorb pressure and look to counter. Something interesting that happened in that match was Arsenal’s structure. It was very compact and almost appeared to be a 5-5, reducing any space in between the lines and forcing Tottenham to play the ball into wide areas. From there, Arsenal let their fullbacks go 1 v 1 because Tottenham don't have wingers that can consistently beat defenders off the dribble.
In the end, Arsenal limited Tottenham to just 0.7 expected goals on 15 shots, but without Rice and Odegaard they weren’t that threatening in transition. They came with this same approach the last time that they played Manchester City. They sat in a 4-4-2 with the two forwards dropping to cover the two midfielders, which didn’t allow Manchester City to have an overload in the middle of the pitch. They also always made sure that Saliba and Gabriel were in a position to double Haaland any time the ball went through to him, which forced Manchester City to play the ball out wide. For Arsenal to be successful in this match, they have to overload and attack the wide areas.
They struggled in that previous encounter against Manchester City building through the middle, so oftentimes David Raya would simply send the ball long with Arsenal trying to win second balls, but they didn’t have a lot of success. Without Ødegaard available, Arsenal need to get the ball to Saka and Martinelli and try to get them into 1 v 1 situations out wide to create chances. However, Ødegaard is the one that typically shades to Saka’s side of the pitch to create that overload, so Arsenal are likely going to struggle to create chances in this match.
These matches between Pep and Arteta are typically very low event and quite frankly, very boring.
There were under two expected goals created in both meetings between these two last season, as neither team was willing to take chances in possession to leave themselves exposed defensively. With Rice back in the lineup after serving his suspension, Arsenal will be at full strength defensively and their sole focus is going to be on not letting City play through the middle of the pitch and shutting down Haaland.
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09-22-24 03:46 PM |
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msudogs
Moderator
Registered: Nov 2005
Posts: 65535
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Manchester City vs. Arsenal Odds
Manchester City -128 // Arsenal +364
Total: 2.5 (-114/-109)
This is a huge match between the two main rivals for the title in the EPL. With Liverpool in a transition season, one of either Manchester City or Arsenal will be lifting the trophy come May. While the gap to the rest widens, it is wafer thin between these two sides, with massive amounts of respect held between Pep Guardiola and Mikel Arteta.
We can pitch this as the best attack versus the best defence, the best striker on the planet in Haaland up against its best defender in William Saliba. That presents a distinct possibility of the two teams canceling each other out.
Manchester City come into this one off the back of a goalless draw at home to Inter Milan in the Champions League, while at the time of writing, Arsenal are yet to complete their European fixture against Atalanta.
Last weekend, the Gunners had to make do without Martin Ødegaard and will have to do so for several more weeks due to the significant damage to his ankle. They overcame that blow and that of Declan Rice’s suspension to beat North London rivals Tottenham. Having Rice back for this clash is a massive boost.
Mikel Arteta got his tactics absolutely spot on against Spurs tweaking his formation and nullifying any threat from their opponent. He will use that template and look to repeat the trick here against the champions whose off-field problems rumble on with the case of answering 130 alleged breaches of financial fair play having got underway this week.
On the pitch, both meetings were very tight last season, with this clash ending in a 0-0 draw after it was 1-0 to the Arsenal at the Emirates. Those results followed a 1-1 draw (after 90 minutes) in the Community Shield season curtain raiser.
This season, more than ever, these two are clearly the title contenders in a battle that will go down to the wire. Matches against each other could determine the destination of the trophy. That may sound extreme just five matches into the new season, but when you look across the fixtures, it is hard to see where either will drop too many points.
Putting that into context in 2024, Manchester City have played 23 EPL games, have won 20 and drawn three (Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal). Arsenal have played 22, won 19, drawn two and lost one with the defeat coming against Aston Villa who they have already played and beaten this term.
As a result, we should get a very tight and competitive game on Sunday where no side will want to give an inch to their rival. Added to the complexities of Champions League commitments in the midweek leading up to this fixture, with player injury or fatigue, it all points towards Under 2.5 goals.
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09-22-24 04:58 PM |
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