Arsenal vs Chelsea betting preview: Expect goals but a tight Emirates affair

Arsenal host Chelsea in this evening’s big Premier League clash, with both teams now looking nervously over their shoulders to the in-form Manchester United.

In fact, by the time of kick-off at the Emirates, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s rejuvenated Red Devils could be move three points clear of the Gunners and just three shy of the Blues with victory at home against Brighton.

The pressure is very much on both sides, then, with the hosts in particular enduring a difficult patch at present, both on and off the pitch.

Unai Emery’s side have won just one of their last four matches Premier League matches, losing three of their last six, with the 1-0 defeat to West Ham last time out seeing a 20-match streak in which they had scored at least once in the top-flight come to an end.

Goals usually don’t prove too difficult to come by for the Gunners, but keeping them out at the other end is a different story.

With just one clean sheet in their last 15 league matches - and that coming at home against bottom club Huddersfield - the hosts’ chances of keeping the Blues at bay seem remote.

Chelsea have failed to score in just one Premier League away game all season after all - also failing to find a way past West Ham - though it’s fair to say Maurizio Sarri’s side aren’t exactly firing on all cylinders.

Unable to get a deal for Gonzalo Higuain done in time for this match, the visitors must decide whether to continue with Eden Hazard up front or to call upon former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud to lead the line.

Whoever has got the nod in recent times - including Alvaro Morata - has struggled to have the desired impact in front of goal, with the Blues failing to score more than twice in a league game since the start of November.

In the 11 matches since a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace, Sarri’s side have scored just 13 times, while their last victory by more than a single goal was seven games ago - against Manchester City no less.

With all that in mind, while both teams will be confident of finding the net, this seems unlikely to be the free-scoring affair of the reverse fixture way back in August, when Marcos Alonso bagged a late winner after a four-goal thriller of a first half.

Instead, then, we’re backing both teams to score but with fewer than four goals scored in the match in total, meaning that a 1-1 draw or 2-1 win to either side would ensure a winning bet. Using the bet365 Bet Builder, combining the both teams to score bet with under four goals, odds of 3.20 are certainly tempting between two sides capable of breaching their opponents defence but still not playing at their maximum right now.