A huge Saturday in the Premier League is ahead for soccer betting fans for sure. On a day that Man City and Tottenham are both on the road in dangerous fixtures and Manchester United and Leicester City meet in an early season rematch of the Community Shield, the best match of the bunch is the last one between Arsenal and Chelsea, a fixture that could go a long way towards ultimately determining the Top 4 spots in England this season.
This Barclays Premier League duel will go down Saturday, September 24, 2016, at 12:30 p.m. ET at Emirates Stadium. The match will be televised live on NBC Sports Network.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Arsenal +136
Chelsea +204
Draw +248
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
There isn't a lot separating these two teams this year on the field so far, albeit in a relatively small sample set. Both teams are sitting on 10 points and have similar goal differentials at +5 for Arsenal and +4 for Chelsea. That's why this match is incredibly difficult to line, knowing that all three results are definitely plausible.
Arsenal is the +136 favorite merely because of the value of home field advantage at the Emirates, but Chelsea at +204, especially with a win and a draw away from home thus far this year, is a definite possibility. The draw is the least likely result at +248, but certainly, with two teams this evenly matched, it just doesn't feel like this should be the longest shot on the board.
The total is quite high by BPL standards at 2.5 with -129 vig on the over.
Key Injuries
Arsenal is starting to get a bit healthier, and at least the men who are out now are ones who were dinged up playing for the team as opposed to playing for their countries. Olivier Giroud is the big question mark for this game after he hurt his toe in training. He didn't play against Hull City last week, but this is a much bigger affair with greater consequences if things don't end up going well.
Chelsea won't have Kurt Zouma in this match as he continues to recover from his knee surgery from early last season. John Terry is up in the air after suffering an ankle injury against Swansea, but in all likelihood, he would only be used as a sub even if he was healthy.
Recent Form
Chelsea's form isn't fantastic right now in the EPL, as its last two matches resulted in a draw at dangerous Swansea City and a loss at home against Liverpool. A 4-2 victory over Leicester City in the EFL Cup was a good showing for sure, but that match was tremendously less meaningful than any in the Premier League. Do keep in mind that Liverpool was played every match this season to at least three goals, a trend that dates back to the last two matches the team played in the International Champions Cup in the preseason.
Arsenal has been pouring goals into the back of the net as well. The team logged four against Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup during the week and did the same against Hull last weekend in the EPL. That's three straight over matches for the Gunners as well in league play, and the only exception to the rule this year was a scoreless draw at Leicester City back on August 14.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
Logic tells you that this one should be going over 2.5 goals, but we just can't pull the trigger in spite of the fact that both teams are so goal happy at the moment. This is one of these games that could end up being gritty, as neither team will want to give an inch against the other.
Let's not forget that the back five led by Petr Cech in goal is still quite good for the Gunners. They'll figure this out at some point this year, and this is a great time to do so against an easily frustrated Chelsea side that is already questioning if manager Antonio Conte has worn out his welcome.
Barclays Premier League Odds: Arsenal 1, Chelsea 0
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