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 >Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal welcome London rivals, Chelsea, to the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon, with both sides looking for a much-needed win. The Gunners are in a terrible run of form, which ultimately led to the sacking of Unai Emery, whilst Frank Lampard’s Chelsea have lost three of their last four games.

 

Here we preview the game and offer the best live betting tips.

 

 

Arsenal started life under the new management of Arteta at Bournemouth on Boxing Day and secured a 1-1 draw thanks to a Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang strike, which cancelled out Dan Gosling’s opener for the hosts. Despite dominating the game, the Gunners failed to create too many chances again, something Arteta will need to address quickly. It was their first goal in three games, which brought them their second consecutive draw after a playing out a 0-0 at Everton before Christmas.

 

Arsenal have slipped down to eleventh place in the Premier League after a run of just one win from their last ten games, scoring just twelve goals in the process. The Gunners home form isn’t too great either, having won just three of their nine EPL games at the Emirates this season.

 

 

Chelsea are going through an inconsistent spell at the moment as well, winning two and losing three of their last five games. They will have been desperately disappointed to have lost 2-0 at home against Southampton on Boxing Day after an excellent 2-0 win at Tottenham before Christmas.

 

That win at Spurs was their sixth on the road, so they can boast the third best away form in the Premier League. They are also amongst the division’s highest scorers away from Stamford Bridge and will be happy to be playing Arsenal while they are going through their own turmoil. Of Chelsea’s nine away games, eight of them have seen over 2.5 goals.

 

Head-to-head

    

Chelsea have enjoyed a better head-to-head record in recent years when these clubs have met in the Premier League, winning half of the ten fixtures between them since 2014, but when the clubs met last season, each won their respective home games. Chelsea were 3-2 winners at Stamford Bridge thanks to goals from Pedro, Alvaro Morata and Marcos Alonso, whilst Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Alex Iwobi replied for the Gunners. When the sides then met at the Emirates Stadium, Arsenal were 2-0 winners thanks to goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Laurent Koscielny.

 

 

The last meeting between the two clubs came in the Europa League final in Baku in May. Chelsea ran out 4-1 winners to lift the trophy, with goals that night coming from Olivier Giroud, Pedro, and an Eden Hazard brace; Alex Iwobi scored the solitary goal for the Gunners.

 

 

Stats

 

Arsenal’s last three games at home have seen over 2.5 goals, whilst eight of Chelsea’s nine away games have also seen over 2.5 goals. Arsenal have not won any of their last five home games, whilst Chelsea have the third best away form in the Premier League this season.

 

 

Verdict

 

Mikel Arteta will hope to stamp his mark at Arsenal quickly to stop their dramatic slide, and this could be the ideal time to do it. Chelsea’s young side are showing some inconsistency and will have had their confidence dented by that shock defeat against Southampton. The Blues do remain in the top four, but a host of clubs are beginning to make ground on them which will only crank up the pressure on Lampard’s young squad.

 

Arsenal will have given up all hope of qualifying for Europe next year, so their main focus should be on rebuilding their team under Arteta. However, in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe the Gunners do possess match winners and they can help the Spaniard secure his first win as Arsenal manager in a game that should provide plenty of goals.

 

 

Chelsea do have plenty of quality too and currently play far better away from home than they do at Stamford Bridge, but we think the Gunners can snatch a very important win.

 

Get Arsenal to win 2-1 @9/1 with xxx

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score 2 or more goals is 13/2 with xxx

Willian to score is 12/5 with xxx

Get over 3.5 goals @31/20 with xxx