Arsenal hasn't been in the best form of late, but it has managed to at least stay in the chase for the Top 4 with five matches left to play. The margin to make up is six to Manchester City and five to the team that will be visiting the Emirates on Sunday, Manchester United. If there's a winner in this match, this could go a long way towards determining the last of the four Champions League spots available to the Premier League for 2017-18.
At 11 a.m. ET, tune into NBC Sports Network for live television coverage of this BPL match on Sunday, May 7, 2017, at Emirates Stadium.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Arsenal -105
Manchester United +270
Draw +260
Over/Under 2.5
Odds Analysis
A tricky spread to try to handicap with the poor form that both of these teams are in and the injuries they're facing. More on that in a moment, of course.
It's basically 50/50 as to whether Arsenal will or will not get three points here at home against the Red Devils. The Gunners are certainly under the – ahem, "gun" – here knowing that a loss at home will relegate them to the Europa League virtually for sure. The price of just -105 still leaves the door open for Jose Mourinho's men to not just claim a share of the spoils, but the entirety of them as well.
Key Injuries
Mourinho is running out of bodies for this affair. Eric Bailly left last week's match with Swansea City and is up in the air for this duel, while Timothy Fosu-Mensah is probably going to miss this one from a shoulder problem picked up against Manchester City. Marouane Fellaini is still in the midst of his suspension for his violent conduct against the Citizens last week, and we all know about the recent long-term injuries picked up by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Marcus Rojo and Luke Shaw. The biggest question mark is Paul Pogba, who missed the Swansea match and was sorely missed in that 1-1 draw.
Arsenal is still without Santiago Cazorla and Jeff Reine Adelaide, the latter of which was ruled out for the season thanks to an ankle issue last week.
Recent Form
Does anyone actually want that last spot in the Champions League in England? Arsenal sure didn't look like it against Tottenham in a poor 2-0 loss at White Hart Lane over the weekend. The Spurs were clearly the better of the two teams, and that erased the memories of three straight victories prior for Arsenal.
Manchester United continues to have an odd campaign. It's only been beaten three times on the campaign, but it also only has 17 wins. The team picked up another of its patented draws against Swansea City last weekend, a point that did nothing to help run City after it was held as well to a point. Of course, we know that there's a supreme degree of talent here; one only needs to look at the 2-0 victory over Chelsea at home without Ibra as proof of that. But putting it all together has been incredibly difficult in Mou's first campaign in Manchester.
Free Soccer Betting Pick
Marcus Rashford has been an incredibly bright light for the Red Devils since Ibrahimovic's injury, and we can't help but wonder if he can ultimately find a moment of brilliance for this match. The task is tough against Mesut Ozil, one of the toughest players in the league to try to match offensive wits with, but this could be the moment for the bright, young star.
Though we're forecasting a United win, we aren't sure we'd want to go out on that far of a limb and take the +270. That said, we'd feel a lot better with the options of Manchester United and a draw on our side on the Asian Handicap than an Arsenal triumph.
BPL Odds: Manchester United 1, Arsenal 0
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