Now this is a proper Super Sunday and the last one of the decade.
Arsenal host Chelsea in a game where if the teams around them were to win, they could drop as low as 15th with less than half of the season to go. Pierre Emerick Aubameyang scored on his first appearance under Mikel Arteta, the Gabonese international is currently the second goal top goalscorer in the PL behind Vardy and is always capable of capitalising on the smallest lapses of concentration which are not infrequent in the inexperienced Chelsea defence.
Tammy Abraham has been in a slight rut by his high standards this season, he’s scored 3 in his last 9 appearances in all competitions, but Chelsea haven’t been quite as fluent going forward as they have in recent months, especially in the recent 2-0 defeat to Southampton. The Blues looked very deflated and lacked urgency, the only shining light was Mason Mount’s contribution when he came off the bench at half time. Mount looked excellent and created a key chance 13 seconds after coming onto the pitch and really should be getting game time from the start today.
Prior to Arsenal’s 3-0 home defeat to City, they had scored in every single home game since December 19th, 2018 where they lost at home to Spurs. On the other hand, Chelsea have scored in all away games since the first game of the season where they got hammered by Man United.
It’s clear that both sides have got issues of late but Arsenal’s current state of affairs and their 1 win in their last 14 makes them look vulnerable against a Chelsea side that played Spurs off the park last week. Chelsea are available at a rough price of 5/4 and both teams to score is 1/2, both of which represent decent value.
Everything surrounding Liverpool at the moment is regarding the title they look certain to win and the imminent threat to Arsenal’s 49 game unbeaten run, but todays opposition Wolves are coming off the back of a heroic 3-2 win after being 2-0 down against Man City. Wolves victory did not in anyway come as any huge surprise as City’s defensive issues have been sizeable and Wolves have been terrific this year anyway. Nuno’s side have the Europa League in their agenda and they’re still able to perform at such a good level in the PL, they’re sitting in 7th but a win would take them up to 4th with 33 points.
Liverpool’s previous win was a thumping victory over Leicester where Trent Alexander-Arnold ran the show. The English right back claimed 3 assists and also scored a pretty tidy goal as well, he’s proving at a consistent level that he’s one of the worlds best and there’s not many players that can distribute a pass or create a goal to the standard he can. A win for Liverpool would put them 13 points clear with a game in hand over the following pack. The Reds also have managed to improve their defensive third with 5 clean sheets in their last 7 games as opposed to 0 in the 7 before that.
Unfortunately for neutral football fans, wanting a competitive title race, this game will not make much difference. Wolves can always be dangerous against the big teams as City learned but Liverpool do not seem to be making those kinds of mistakes.
Manchester City aren’t quite the dominant force of last season’s title winners that finished on 98 out of a possible of 114, they’ve already dropped 19 points from a possible 57 this season. The injury to Aymeric Laporte set City quite far back this season and they have not been able to recover from the massive gap he has left in the defence. Ederson got sent off in their match against Wolves in the 12th minute which has earned him a 3-game suspension, leaving City with Claudio Bravo. Man City have already conceded 6 more goals than they did in the entirety of last season and have acquired 1 clean sheet out of their last possible 14. Tonight’s opponents had minimal expectation for the season and have been heads and shoulders above what could possibly have been anticipated.
Sheffield United were antepost favourites to be relegated and to finish bottom but instead see themselves challenging in the European spots, tonight would be a huge scalp over a team that are almost guaranteed to have ¾ of the possession. Their real success story has been the defensive stubbornness that Chris Wilder has embedded into his squad but there is a problem with the lack of offensive threat. Lys Mousset is the Blades’ top goal scorer with 5 but recently he’s been a player that makes appearances from the bench.
All previous meetings in Manchester between the sides took place in a 7-year timeframe between 1999-2006 and have ended 0-0 but with both teams prowess towards both ends of the pitch in modern times it could be deemed an unlikely outcome. City will need a win more than anything at the moment and will be looking to bounce back from the disappointing result against Wolves, so a cagey City win seems about right.
Here’s a little accumulator that involves the 3 games and incorporates some of the mentioned picks, bet accordingly. If you’re interested in any other selections, follow me on my social media links that will be provided below this piece.
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