Arsenal vs Chelsea Prediction, Betting Tips & Preview

Preview

Haydn Cunningham Jan 19, 2016 @ 10:51 pm

Arsene Wenger would’ve been one manager who had a wry smile on his face when he saw Jose Mourinho finally relieved of his duties as Chelsea manager. Mourinho had a personal vendetta against Wenger and believed the Arsenal boss was always given ‘favours’ by the Premier League with fixture scheduling. Wenger will now have to make do with pitting his wits against Guus Hiddink. Arsenal have managed two draws in succession and both were on their travels and will be glad to be back at home where they’ve won five on the bounce. The draw against Stoke City on Sunday afternoon again saw them without a number of star players but it was Mesut Ozil’s absence that was evidently missed by the Gunners as his flair, composure and creativity on the ball was severely missed and despite carving open a couple of opportunities, Olivier Giroud would’ve missed his colleague.

Chelsea remain unbeaten under Guus Hiddink but it hasn’t been quite plain sailing since his arrival. Their unbeaten run required a dramatic injury time goal from John Terry who had initially put Everton ahead with an own goal so he will feel a sense of relief that he was also the man to earn Chelsea a draw. It does mean it’s back-to-back draws at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea which given their position in the Premier League they need to start turning these draws into victories if they have any chance of salvaging their disastrous season. Arsenal have only averaged two points per league game and that has been enough to put them top of the table and by no means is any team running away with the title as Chelsea were last season. Chelsea have just managed to average just over a point a game and with the superstars at their disposal that is massively underachieving.

The away side in the last five meetings between these two sides has remained goalless so Chelsea will need to break that run should they wish to get a result as despite firing a blank against Stoke, Arsenal look menacing at home and you fully expect them to score at the very least. There has been just one goal in the last three matches in this fixture and that came in the Community Shield at the start of this season. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored a stunning goal at Wembley that proved decisive.

Oxlade-Chamberlain was given a start against Stoke City due to the number of injuries that continue to build up at Arsenal with Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla, Tomas Rosicky, Mikel Arteta and Mesut Ozil all injured. Chelsea’s Eden Hazard is their biggest loss and it is now approaching a month that the Belgian winger has been out injured. Oscar set up the late leveller against Everton and he may be rewarded with a start at Arsenal after being dropped to the substitute’s bench. 

Arsenal 

Stats: W-13 L-4 D-5

Recent Form – WWWDD

Chelsea 

Stats: W-6 L-9 D-7

Recent Form - DWWDD

Head-to-head record:

Possible Line-ups

Arsenal (4-2-3-1) – Cech, Bellerin, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Flamini, Ramsey, Ozil, Campbell, Walcott, Giroud

Chelsea (4-2-3-1) – Courtois, Ivanovic, Zouma, Terry, Azpiliceuta, Matic, Oscar, Fabregas, Willian, Pedro, Costa.

Injury List/Suspended Players

Arsenal – Welbeck (inj), Wilshere (inj), Rosicky (inj), Arteta (inj), Sanchez (inj), Cazorla (inj), Coquelin (inj)

Chelsea – Hazard (inj)

League Positions