Arsenal and Chelsea clash in a London Derby on Wednesday at the Emirates Stadium with a big prize up for grabs: a ticket to the League Cup final at Wembley. The first leg at Stamford Bridge ended goalless, a result which gives Arsenal a slight advantage ahead of the second leg. The two teams have already played their two direct Premier League matches this season and both ended without a winner: goalless draw at Stamford Bridge in September and 2-2 at the Emirates Stadium earlier in January. The two sides have also met in the Community Shield at the start of the campaign and Arsenal won the trophy on penalties.
With the Alexis Sanchez saga finally over as the Chilean forward joined Manchester United, Arsenal can now focus on what happens on the pitch. Last weekend they were pretty impressive in the 4-1 home victory over Crystal Palace in the Premier League, ending a run of five matches without victory in all competitions. However, the Gunners are still sixth in the Premier League table and they need to play a lot better in order to regain the support of their fans. Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud remain injured, while Nacho Monreal and Aaron Ramsey are fitness doubts.
Chelsea have also managed to end their winless streak last weekend, they hadn't won in five matches before the 4-0 triumph at Brighton on Saturday. However, they are on a twelve-match unbeaten streak and have conceded just one goal in their last five matches in all competitions. Pedro and Alvaro Morata are available again after having served their suspension at the weekend, but Cesc Fabregas, Danny Drinkwater and Gary Cahill are likely to miss out through injury. Goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is also an injury doubt, while Andreas Christensen should recover in time.
Probable line-ups:
Arsenal: Ospina - Koscielny, Mustafi, Kolasinac - Bellerin, Xhaka, Wilshere, Mailtland-Niles - Iwobi, Ozil - Lacazette
Chelsea: Courtois - Azpilicueta, Christensen, Rudiger - Moses, Kante, Bakayoko, Alonso - Willian, Morata, Hazard
My prediction: 1-1 draw.
Here are the odds for the match at Bet365:
Arsenal win - 3.00
Draw - 3.50
Chelsea win - 2.45
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Comments (1)
sharpe
01/24/18, 07:01:05 PM
After the first game it was looking like the first leg score is really good for Arsenal and I still believe it is, maybe gives them a slight advantage like Johnny...
After the first game it was looking like the first leg score is really good for Arsenal and I still believe it is, maybe gives them a slight advantage like Johnny mentioned above so they are my favourites to go trough. Don't think Chelsea could quite find their form all season long, they are too inconsistent in performances and Wenger is a good cup fighter so I'm willing to think Arsenal would of progress to the final.
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