Sports Blog 03/01/2018: Premier League Preview – Arsenal vs Chelsea, Wednesday 3rd January 2018

Can an injury-stricken Arsenal avoid taking a New Year knock when they host Chelsea, at 7.45pm on Sky Sports?

It was a December to forget for the Gunners. Despite success in the Europa League and EFL Cup, the month was fairly dismal from a Premier League standpoint. A 3-1 defeat at home to Man United kicked things off, with that low followed by 4 draws – 3 of which came against relegation candidates Southampton, West Ham and West Brom (the other was a 3-3 thriller against Liverpool) – and narrow victories over Newcastle and Crystal Palace.

Worse still, the period has seen injuries to Nacho Monreal, Olivier Giroud and Aaron Ramsey, with fitness doubts also lingering over Mesut Ozil and Laurent Koscielny. Those upfront absentees are especially troublesome, piling extra pressure on Alexandre Lacazette, who despite a Super Mega PGM of 32-38 hasn’t scored in a month, and the potentially exit-eyeing Alexis Sanchez, who sits at 24-29.

While there were disappointments in Chelsea’s December – namely a Champions League draw with Atletico Madrid that forced them into Group C’s runners-up slot and therefore a last 16 tie against Barcelona, a loss to West Ham and a goalless snooze against Everton – the Blues looked pretty, pretty good as 2017 wrapped up. Saturday’s 5-0 sizzler against Stoke helped Conte’s lot remain in 3rd place, but crucially with a game in hand over Manchester United that, if they win on Wednesday, would see them go second – and only a measly 14 points adrift of Man City!

As for Chelsea’s options up front, Alvaro Morata – who actually only has 2 more league goals than Lacazette – is at a Super Mega PGM of 35-41, with Eden Hazard at 27-32 and Michy Batshuayi at 25-30.

Though the visitors may be fancied over their flaccid hosts, at a Chelsea/Arsenal (h) Goal Supremacy spread of 0-0.2 alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.75-2.95, it is worth noting that the Gunners have won 8 of their 10 league games this season at the Emirates, keeping hopes alive that they could pull off a mini-upset.