Arsenal vs. Chelsea - England Premier League, Emirates Stadium, London, England 7:45 AM Sunday April 21, 2012
By Jason Green, Soccer Handicapper, Predictem.com
Match Odds: Arsenal 2.00 / Chelsea 3.75 / Draw 3.50
Moneyline: Arsenal +100 / Chelsea +275 / Draw +225
Over/Under: 2.5 goals
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With only 5 matches remaining time is running out for Chelsea to finish in the top 4 to get an automatic Champions League berth for next season. The Blues currently sit in 6th place in the EPL table only 2 points behind Newcastle and Tottenham and 7 points behind 3rd place Arsenal.
Chelsea may be playing with tired legs in this game, as all their big guns were on the pitch in their HUGE Champions League home win against Barcelona on Wednesday night.
Arsenal is coming off a pretty shocking loss facing Wigan, who sit in 16th place in the EPL table, but they have not lost on their home pitch since the end of January in a loss to Manchester United. Chelsea has 3 wins and 1 draw in their last 4 road matches, but that one draw was in their last EPL match.
This season in EPL play Arsenal has scored 67 goals and conceded 43 and Chelsea has scored 56 goals and conceded 38.
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Earlier this league season in a high scoring match Arsenal scored an upset with a 5-3 away win over Chelsea. In that match EPL leading scorer Robin Van Persie scored a hat trick and he is the guy the Blues' defense really must key on in this rivalry match up.
Chelsea Recent Form
4/4/2012 Chelsea 2 Benfica 1 (Champions League)
4/7/2012 Chelsea 2 Wigan Athletic 1 (Premier League)
4/9/2012 Fulham 1 Chelsea 1 (Premier League)
4/15/2012 Tottenham Hotspur 1 Chelsea 5 (FA Cup)
4/18/2012 Chelsea 1 Barcelona 0 (Champions League)
Arsenal Recent Form
3/24/2012 Arsenal 3 Aston Villa 0 (Premier League)
3/31/2012 Queens Park Rangers 2 Arsenal 1 (Premier League)
4/8/2012 Arsenal 1 Manchester City 0 (Premier League)
4/11/2012 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Arsenal 3 (Premier League)
4/16/2012 Arsenal 1 Wigan Athletic 2 (Premier League)
Chelsea will be a little shorthanded in this match, as defenders John Terry, Ashley Cole, and Branislav Ivanovic are all out for this match.
Chelsea played a great match on defense in their win over Barcelona dropping back most of the team to thwart the lethal Barca attack and will they use that same strategy in this match? I would say no, as the Blues must get some points in this match and they will push the envelope on offense more.
Frank Lampard and Daniel Sturridge are the top scorers for the Blues this season combining for 21 goals and Didier Drogba (5 goals) was the big hero in the Barcelona match scoring the only goal. A somewhat resurgent Fernando Torres (3 goals) may see action in this match with all the tired legs of the Blues.
Arsenal G Wojciech Szcz?sny has 3 clean sheets in his last 5 matches, but gave up 2 goals in his last match. I think he and the Arsenal defense will play well, but the Blues will score at least 1 goal.
Van Persie and Theo Walcott (8 goals) are key in this match and even though Chelsea will key on them I think one and maybe both of them will find the back of the net.
Petr Cech played great in the win over Barcelona making many big saves, but he will not keep a clean sheet in this match.
Arsenal loves to take long runs and plays a fluid game and the Blues must disrupt the passing lanes, especially in the midfield.
This season in the England Premier League Arsenal has an O/U 2.5 goal record of 8-2 and Chelsea has an O/U 2.5 goal record of 5-5.
Jason's Pick to Win: This match will not be as high scoring as the earlier one this season that saw 8 goals being scored, but it will not be a defensive battle either. Both teams will get their shots on offense, but playing their 2nd match in 3 days I think the Blues will be a little tired and the Gunners will jump on them and win this match by a score of 2-1 or 3-1.
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