Chelsea take on Arsenal at Stamford Bridge
Chelsea take on Arsenal at Stamford Bridge

Chelsea v Arsenal betting preview: Prediction & best bets for crunch clash at Stamford Bridge


Expect a better Arsenal in their second outing under Unai Emery, but one not quite enough to get a result at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea.

Chelsea v Arsenal (1730 BST BT Sport 1)

Judging on their opening games of the season it should be a comfortable victory for Chelsea, but the huge difference in quality between their respective opponents means it may not be so easy for the odds-on hosts.

Unai Emery will have learned a lot from that Man City defeat and the Gunners will be much better second time around, but they'll face a confident Chelsea who should have Eden Hazard from the start.

Five wins out of six for Chelsea in this fixture at Stamford Bridge with just one goal conceded all points to a home win, but the one worry is with the lack of goals from Alvaro Morata.

The Spanish striker has scored three times for Chelsea, just once in the league, since Boxing Day and although Sarri is standing by him for now he'll need to start finding the net to keep his place.

Arsenal held their own at times against City and expect them to do the same again, especially with their wealth of attacking options, but Chelsea look just too strong at this point of the season.


Betting guide

Prediction: Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal (Sky Bet odds: 8/1)
Arsenal should have scored against City so they should be expected to score against David Luiz and Chelsea. Huddersfield gave new keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga the most comfortable of debuts - Emery will surely be planning to give him more of a rough ride in his first home game.

Best Bet: Chelsea win & both teams to score at 21/10
As above, there's enough going forward to suggest goals at both ends. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang looks the best striker on show in the game with Morata's well-publicised struggles, but Chelsea can get goals from so many other players.

Scorer: Olivier Giroud last goalscorer at 5/1
Worth a speculative play given the way the game is likely to go. Giroud didn't get on the pitch last week but should see some action at Stamford Bridge and his impact off the bench is well documented, you wouldn't be surprised if he pops up with the winner against his old club.

RequestABet: Hazard & Aubameyang to score and Luiz & Xhaka to be carded at 28/1
We're reaching for a big one here, but that's what these bets are all about. All of the components are perfectly reasonable with likely scorers on each team, and if you were noting down yellow card candidates they'd be the first two names on your list.


Chelsea v Arsenal Opta stats

  • Chelsea have won five of their last six home league games against Arsenal, with the exception being a 0-0 draw last season.
  • Arsenal have failed to score in four of their last five Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge.
  • In all competitions, there were two meetings between Chelsea and Arsenal at Stamford Bridge last season, with both finishing 0-0. Prior to that, Chelsea had scored in 12 consecutive home matches against the Gunners in all competitions.
  • In all competitions, Arsenal have kept a clean sheet in their last two away games against Chelsea. They’ve not kept three in a row away at Stamford Bridge since January 1924.
  • Arsenal and Chelsea have met 52 times in the Premier League. In the first 26 meetings, Arsenal had a 54% win rate (W14 D9 L3), while Chelsea have won 54% of the last 26 (W14 D7 L5).
  • Arsenal lost their opening Premier League match against Manchester City – they haven’t lost both of their first two games in a season since 1992-93 (vs Norwich and Blackburn).
  • The last Arsenal manager to lose their first two matches in charge was Steve Burtenshaw, who lost his first three in charge as caretaker in March/April 1986.
  • As Napoli manager, new Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri lost just four of his 57 home league games (W43 D10 L4).
  • Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud scored in this fixture for Arsenal in February 2017. If he scores for the Blues, he’ll be only the second player to score in this fixture for both sides in the Premier League, after Cesc Fabregas.
  • Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s next league goal will be his 150th in the big five European leagues.

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