Kick-off: 1630, 22/08/2021
Stadium: Emirates Stadium
TV: Sky Sports
Arsenal made a terrible start to the new Premier League season but always seem to raise their game when facing London rivals Chelsea.
The Gunners did the double over the Blues last term and came out on top in the 2020 FA Cup final, so they are a tempting price here.
We’re taking a punt on Mikel Arteta’s men to prevail at 15/4 for our first Arsenal vs Chelsea prediction.
A Look At Arsenal’s Betting Odds
Obviously, it is hard to forget or forgive Arsenal’s 2-0 loss at Brentford in the opening match of the campaign.
England defender Ben White, who joined from Brighton for £50million, endured a difficult debut while Pablo Mari put in an error-strewn display.
“We are really disappointed with the way we started the season,” admitted Arteta. “Were they soft goals? Yes.
“I don’t want to use excuses. We had a team out there good enough to achieve a different result.
“We know we have to improve. We have big games coming up and we need a different performance to get a better result.”
Being without Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette was a big blow but we’d agree with Arteta that the Gunners still had a decent team on paper.
They were plagued by inconsistency last season but did produce some impressive displays and finished with five straight league victories.
Nicolas Pepe was excellent during that run, closing with doubles against Crystal Palace and Brighton to make it 16 goals in all competitions.
Looking at the Arsenal vs Chelsea odds, the £72m front man is 14/5 to be on target here.
Last Arsenal line-up: Leno, Tierney, White, Chambers, Mari, Smith Rowe, Sambi Lokonga, Xhaka, Pepe, Balogun, Martinelli.
A Look At Chelsea’s Betting Odds
Chelsea followed up a UEFA Super Cup penalty shoot-out win over Villarreal by cruising to a 3-0 victory versus Palace at Stamford Bridge.
Marcos Alonso, Christian Pulisic and Trevoh Chalobah netted in a facile success for the European champions.
Thomas Tuchel has been able to build from a position of strength and bringing Romelu Lukaku back to the club is an exciting prospect.
“It’s good to be back,” said the Belgium ace. “I’m here now and I can’t wait to get on the pitch and perform with my team-mates.
“I’ve been training pretty much the whole pre-season. I’m just trying to help me and my team-mates get better.
“The dream is reality, so I just have to prove it on the pitch now. It’s time to focus on working hard.
“I already have a relationship with most of the players. I’m really happy to be here and now we’ve got to play as a team.”
However, the Blues are also prone to occasional off days and were beaten nine times in this competition last term, losing away to Arsenal, Everton, Wolves, Leicester and Aston Villa.
We feel bookmakers have overreacted to this season’s opening results and 14/1 for a 2-1 home win is a value addition to our Arsenal vs Chelsea betting tips.
Last Chelsea line-up: Mendy, Rudiger, Alonso, Christensen, Azpilicueta, Jorginho, Kovacic, Pulisic, Chalobah, Mount, Werner.
Additional stats
Last result:
Brentford 2-0 ARSENAL
CHELSEA 3-0 Crystal Palace – Marcos Alonso, Christian Pulisic, Trevoh Chalobah
Head-to-head: Chelsea 0-1 Arsenal, Arsenal 3-1 Chelsea, Arsenal 2-1 Chelsea, Chelsea 2-2 Arsenal, Arsenal 1-2 Chelsea
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