Arsene Wenger is once again marking a career landmark by coming up against Chelsea. His 1000th game in charge saw his side end on the wrong end of a 6-0 scoreline and Kieran Gibbs incorrectly sent off. He’ll be hoping his 20th anniversary game is a happier occasion. It couldn’t really be much worse.
This has always been a tense fixture, fuelled to some degree by Wenger’s relationship with previous Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho. Despite the Portuguese manager’s move north this season, he has still managed to impose himself on this tie. Excerpts from a book made the sinister implication that Mourinho would find Wenger “one day outside a football pitch and I will break his face.” Wenger refused to be drawn on these comments in the buildup to the match, but it’s a shadow the game is unable to escape.
With that in mind, there is certainly money to be made in this fixture courtesy of Bet365. New Bet365 customers receive a 100% deposit bonus. When you deposit £10 or more you will qualify for a matched amount to bet with, up to £200. Given the excellent markets on offer for this Premier League match up, you stand to win money from the match.
Arsenal will have no fresh injury concerns, but Olivier Giroud faces a fitness test in hopes of playing a part. His exclusion could be a blessing in disguise for the Gunners as he’s failed to score in any of his 9 appearances against Chelsea. Alexis Sànchez is likely to continue his role as Giroud’s stand-in. He has scored 4 goals in 5 starts as a forward for the North London side this season, but has yet to find the back of the net against the Blues.
The real selection dilemma facing Wenger this weekend is in the midfield - and whether he should persist with the partnership of Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin. Ahead of Arsenal’s game at Hull the manager said: “it’s about pairs as well, who work together. Coquelin and Cazorla have worked well together.” Coquelin has been solid but hasn’t made quite the impact as summer signing Granit Xhaka, with he scoring in each of Arsenal’s last 2 matches.
Wenger is not the only manager who has a player forcing their hand with a selection drama. Antonio Conte will have the difficult decision whether to include Cesc Fàbregas or not. His starting XIs in the league have remained virtually unchanged, using just 16 players. Only 13 of those players have seen a start, 1 being David Luiz who deputised for the injured John Terry.
However, Fabregas continues to make a case for himself on and off the pitch. In the league, Fabregas has been allowed just 32 minutes on the pitch this season, fewer than any Chelsea player to make an appearance. In that half hour he registered an assist, created 6 chances and made 60 passes. Tuesday’s EFL Cup game against Leicester gave Conte an opportunity to see what the Spaniard could do in 120 minutes. He directly contributed to 3 of Chelsea’s 4 goals, one of which proved to be the match winner. While Leicester were down to just 10 men in the final half hour, Chelsea dominated the game from the second half onwards, with Fàbregas at the heart of everything the Blues were doing right.
In his press conference on Friday, Conte confirmed that John Terry would not be fit in time to face Arsenal or give Chelsea’s defence any semblance of organisation. While results have largely gone their way this season, they continue to concede a lot of unnecessary goals. Chelsea have kept just 6 clean sheets in 2016 in all competitions.
Like most derbies, Arsenal vs Chelsea tends to be an acrimonious affair with or without the presence of Jose Mourinho. Antonio Conte will be desperate to get his side back to winning ways, while Wenger will want to get one over on a side that’s got the better of him in recent seasons. And of course, the inclusion of Diego Costa just about anywhere seems to raise temperatures. There have been 4 red cards in the last 5 meetings between these sides and it’s worth betting on a red card at 3.40 with Bet365.
Chelsea have never been ones to make things easy on themselves and this season is no different - they have been leaving goals late. Of the 10 goals they’ve scored this season, 5 have been after the 80th minute. There has been a late goal scored in 9 of their last 11 Premier League games. Bet on a goal after the 75th minute at 1.83.
Arsenal may not have scored a league goal against Chelsea since the days of Rafa Benitez, but without John Terry to direct the defence and an Arsenal who’ve scored 8 goals in their last 2 games, they should be able to right that wrong. But they likely won’t be the only ones to get on the scoresheet. Only 3 teams have conceded more goals at home in the league this season than Arsenal. And Chelsea have scored in each of their last 12 competitive fixtures, scoring at least twice in 9 of them. Eden Hazard and Diego Costa have both found their form that had helped Chelsea win the league in 2015. Bet on both teams to score in the second half at 3.00.
