It’s the final weekend in the Premier League before play breaks for the World Cup and all teams will be sure to want to go out on a high, but can Arsenal hang on to top spot?
We preview the pick of the weekend’s action below.
Manchester City v Brentford
Manchester City can take top spot, albeit possibly only for a few hours, with a win over Brentford in Saturday’s early kick-off at the Etihad.
Since their first loss of the season at Anfield last month, City perhaps haven’t been at their usual scintillating best. They drew with Dortmund in the Champions League and struggled to show their goalscoring flare in a 1-0 win over Leicester, while they needed a final minute penalty to take all three points against Fulham last week.
Top teams find a way to win though, and on the evidence of that game against Fulham, where they played nearly 70 minutes with 10 men, nobody can doubt their desire. Erling Haaland rose to the occasion to slot home the crucial penalty and is 2/1 to be the last goalscorer again here, while he is only 2/5 to add to his outrageous tally of 18 goals so far. If there’s one man that won’t mind the World Cup, it’s Haaland, who will return fresh and ready for more scoring come December 26th.
Pep Guardiola’s side are overwhelming favourites at 1/8 to win and shouldn’t slip up at home against a Brentford side that have won just two of their last 11 league games.
Despite that poor form, The Bees still occupy a comparatively lofty position at 11th in the table, but they will be hoping to get to the break without too much damage inflicted here, as suggested by their odds of 18/1 to win and 15/2 to take a point back to the capital.
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Newcastle v Chelsea
Newcastle have shown in their last few games that they are a big threat to the top sides this season and they have another chance to prove they have what it takes to be considered top four challengers when Chelsea come calling. Such is the form of this Newcastle side, there isn’t much to separate the sides in the betting, with Chelsea just favourites at 21/10 from Newcastle at 5/4.
Eddie Howe’s Magpies are unbeaten in their last nine games and have scored eight goals in their last two games, swatting aside Aston Villa and Southampton. Paraguay international Miguel Almirón has been one of the stars of the season so far and the attacking midfielder scored for his fourth game in succession against The Saints. He looks a huge price at 7/1 to keep that run going.
After Graham Potter’s fine start as Chelsea manager, his side now look to be going through a tricky patch. A 4-1 loss to Brighton was backed up by a lifeless display at Stamford Bridge, where they were comprehensively outplayed by Arsenal. Goals have been in short supply for Chelsea recently, and they may struggle to find a way past a Newcastle defence that has conceded only 11 goals, the joint fewest this season. Chelsea to score no goals is 2/1, while it’s 29/20 that they score one.
With Chelsea’s strength also being at the back – they have conceded only 16 times this season – this could be a low-scoring affair, so 4/5 for the match to feature fewer than 2.5 goals looks an attractive bet.
Wolves v Arsenal
Top of the table Arsenal meet second bottom Wolves in a game where both sides will be desperate for points for different reasons. A win would guarantee Arsenal top spot until after the World Cup, while Wolves will be hoping that a surprise win will lift them out of the relegation zone.
Arsenal’s performances are becoming steadily more rounded and impressive. Mikel Arteta will have been thrilled with how they ground out a narrow win against Chelsea last week, and a trip to Molineux will surely prove to be a much easier task. Win odds of 8/15 reflect that, but their recent head-to-head record suggests a degree of caution, as they have lost on two of their last four trips to Wolverhampton. Wolves are 5/1 to secure what would be a vital win and give them a real boost ahead of the World Cup break.
Arsenal have a whole host of players that can get on the scoresheet, highlighted by the fact that Gabriel Jesus, Eddie Nketiah, Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka are all less than 3/1 to score at anytime, with the quartet priced at 9/4, 5/2, 5/2 and 11/4 respectively.
The Gunners firepower is something desperately lacking in the Wolves squad, as they have only found the net eight times this season. They are 5/4 not to score here, while it’s 10/11 that both teams won’t score in the match.
Everything looks set for Arsenal to end this first part of the season on a high, and they are 4/6 to score over 1.5 goals.
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