Arsenal vs Chelsea 20/01/19

20 January 2019

Saturday’s Premier League action concludes with a heavyweight clash at the Emirates Stadium as Arsenal look to close the gap on their London rivals Chelsea.

A poor haul of just four points in their last four Premier League clashes has seen the Gunners allowing fourth-placed Chelsea to extend the gap to six points. If Unai Emery wants to see his team returning to the Champions League promotion run, victory is imperative for Arsenal this weekend. Considering their home displays in the league so far, the Gunners have every reason to hope for a positive outcome. Having racked up a four-game home winning run, Arsenal have stretched their unbeaten PL home streak to ten games (W8, D2). Their tally of 26 scored goals at home, is the Premier League third-highest, with Arsenal scoring over 1.5 goals per match seven times in 11 home outings this campaign. However, a potential problem for Emery could be that his players failed to keep a clean sheet six times in their last seven PL clashes at Emirates.

Meanwhile, the Blues are unbeaten in the previous four PL outings (W3, D1) as they come into this meeting after a 2-1 home win over Newcastle. The Pensioners have gone from two successive road defeats to three consecutive victories, with four of those five games producing over 2.5 goals. Chelsea’ inability to keep a clean sheet away from home lately has seen them concede on six of their last seven road trips in all competitions. Moreover, the Blues have lost three of their previous four H2H meetings with Arsenal at Emirates, conceding over 1.5 goals per match each time. But, an encouraging fact for Maurizio Sarri could be that his men scored over 1.5 goals on six of their ten PL road clashes this term, failing to hit the net only once in the process.

Provisional line-up – Arsenal:

Gk: Leno Defense: Kolasinac – Koscielny – Sokratis – Mustafi – Maitland-Niles Midfield: Guendouzi – Xhaka Attack: Iwobi – Aubameyang – Lacazette

Provisional line-up – Chelsea:

Gk: Arrizabalaga Defense: Marcos Alonso – Rudiger – David Luiz – Azpilicueta Midfield: Jorginho – Kante – Kovacic Attack: Eden Hazard – Willian – Pedro