Chelsea vs Arsenal prediction: Palmer and Saka to trade blows at the Bridge

Chelsea vs Arsenal betting tips

Chelsea vs Arsenal betting preview

The last Premier League match before the international break is an absolute corker. Chelsea and Arsenal are locked on 18 points each after 10 games, a surprising turn of events considering the expectations of both sides heading into the season (4.30pm Sunday, Sky Sports Main Event).

Enzo Maresca has quickly mended the apathy of Mauricio Pochettino’s era with a Blues side that has ditched rigidity for a flexible, hard-working game. His belief in the system has elevated the output of maligned players from last year, with Nicolas Jackson and Moises Caicedo among those to become integral to a return to form.

Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal are currently heading the other way. Two years of pushing incredibly hard for the Premier League title, yet falling short, seems to have taken its toll on a Gunners side that has lost its technical brilliance.

The absence of Martin Odegaard also hasn’t helped, so his brief return during Wednesday’s Champions League loss to Inter is a major boost for a side that has picked up just one point in their last three matches.

Betting sites are struggling to split the pair ahead of kick-off at Stamford Bridge with the Gunners marginal favourites at 13/8. Chelsea are a best-price 15/8 on betting apps, while the draw is 5/2.

Chelsea vs Arsenal odds: Palmer, Saka to run the show

Cole Palmer and Bukayo Saka are arguably the Premier League’s two best players so far this season. Both are consistently impactful. Both have a tendency to drag their sides through difficult moments. Football betting sites are rightfully expecting both to impact this match, so adding an extra couple of stipulations into the mix can quickly ramp up the odds into big-win territory.

Wesley Fofana has already gone through the Premier League ban threshold of yellow cards this season. He is on six in nine matches and is likely to receive plenty more by the time May arrives. A quality defender, Fofana’s long-term injuries completely removed him from the radar after his big-money move from Leicester.

His aggression in Maresca’s back line halts opponents, but also leaves him prone to taking a booking in the interest of the team. We are seeing Chelsea defenders marshall strikers closely – Levi Colwill supergluing himself to Rasmus Hojlund at Old Trafford last weekend is a great example – with Fofana often tasked to step up and make his presence known.

Arsenal once felt impenetrable, often down to William Saliba’s excellent reading of the game. He hasn’t looked as impassable since struggling for France during the last international break, though.

Alongside Gabriel, whose breaks in concentration are so often mopped up by Saliba, Arteta’s back line suddenly feels gettable. Saliba has two bookings this season and will face the hard-to-pin down Jackson and Palmer at a pressure-cooker Stamford Bridge. He will need to commit to stop them, making this an interesting combination of criteria in one bet.

Chelsea vs Arsenal prediction 1: Palmer and Saka to score, Fofana and Saliba to be carded – 80/1 William Hill

Chelsea vs Arsenal betting tips: Blues win, defences lose

Chelsea were unlucky to come away from the match with Manchester United last weekend with a 1-1 draw.

Maresca’s men were the better side and appeared incredibly well-coached against a team with a limited plan. It’s perhaps fair to say the Blues were also unlucky to exit Anfield with a loss to Liverpool in October as they put on a positive performance against the best team in the country right now. The constant is this: Chelsea are competing again.

As such, many punters will be heading to Premier League betting sites to back them to beat Arsenal in their current state. This is not a team that regularly keeps clean sheets, so overpowering the Gunners with their fast-paced forward play may be the best route to victory. The unconvincing Robert Sanchez has only kept two shut-outs this season, so even a misfiring Arsenal will be confident of adding their mark to the scoresheet.

Arsenal haven’t scored in two games and ran out of ideas against Inter. But the Italians are far more stable at the back than Chelsea and the re-appearance of Odegaard should provide some extra fizz to Arteta’s frontline that is currently relying too much on Saka to do something special when Kai Havertz and Gabriel Martinelli remain quiet.

Chelsea vs Arsenal prediction 2: Chelsea to win and both teams to score – 18/5 bet365

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