Premier League best bets: Arsenal and Liverpool face tricky away matches as Chelsea take on Newcastle

Unai Emery gets animated on the touchline during Arsenal's 5-1 defeat by Liverpool
Unai Emery's Arsenal have struggled away from home recently Credit: Reuters

Arsenal have struggled in the league away from the Emirates in recent weeks and are facing another tricky test on the road against West Ham.

Unai Emery’s side have failed to win away from home in the league since November, losing to Southampton and being thrashed 5-1 by Liverpool and drawing with Manchester United and Brighton.

Some poor performances came during a period of defensive struggles after Nacho Monreal, Hector Bellerin, Rob Holding, Shkodran Mustafi and Laurent Koscielny were on the sidelines for varying amounts of time with injuries.

With the majority of those players back in full training and in consideration for selection, Emery will be expecting his side to look more solid than in recent weeks.

However, Arsenal have failed to keep a clean sheet away from home in the league this season and goalkeeper Bernd Leno could well be picking the ball out of his net on at least one occasion at the London Stadium.

With the wantaway Marko Arnautovic and Felipe Anderson in good form, West Ham will be confident of putting Arsenal’s defence under pressure and they will be looking for an early breakthrough as Arsenal have not led at half-time in any away Premier League game this season.

That makes West Ham-draw double chance an attractive option at 4/5, while West Ham to be leading at half-time and drawing at full-time should also be considered at around 14/1

Interestingly, Arsenal defender Sead Kolasinac has had the most touches of any defender in the opposition’s penalty box and he could provide some value from a goalscoring perspective.

Kolasinac is priced at 33/1 to score the first goal and 10/1 to score at any time in the match.

Brighton v Liverpool

Liverpool are another side with defensive injury issues and it will be interesting to see who Jurgen Klopp selects to partner Virgil Van Dijk at the heart of the defence.

With Dejan Lovren joining Joel Matip and Joe Gomez on the sidelines, Klopp may again be forced to use midfielder Fabinho as a makeshift centre-back.

Liverpool’s defence could be tested by Brighton who have lost only to Tottenham and Chelsea in the league at the Amex Stadium this season and have scored in every one of their home league matches.

That could make both teams to score an attractive price at around 11/10.

Liverpool have also won the three league matches since Brighton returned to the league by an aggregate of 10-1, including when winning 5-1 in this fixture last season, and they will be wanting to lay down a marker for the rest of the season after losing their unbeaten league record to title rivals Manchester City.

Liverpool are 2/7 to win the game and have enough ability to secure that win but over 2.5 goals at 4/6 and over 3.5 goals at around 6/4 should also be considered.

Burnley v Fulham

The return of Tom Heaton in goal for Burnley has coincided with an upturn in form as Sean Dyche’s side have won their last two Premier League games against West Ham and Huddersfield and they will be confident of continuing that run against another struggling side.

Fulham will feel that they must avoid defeat in this game as a Burnley win would leave Claudio Ranieri's side seven points behind their relegation rivals.

Fulham are the only team in the Premier League yet to win away and have lost nine of their 11 league matches on the road. They have conceded 28 goals in those matches but Ranieri has had some tough matches to contend with away from home.

While Fulham have lost three of Ranieri’s first four away matches, those defeats came against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United, while they were unlucky to come away with just a draw against Newcastle.

At the prices, Fulham are 9/4 to win this match, it could be worth giving Fulham one last chance to break their away duck this season and give themselves hope of avoiding the drop.

Cardiff v Huddersfield

Another important game at the foot of the table and a Huddersfield defeat could leave them 11 points from safety after Saturday’s game depending on other results.

Cardiff have lost their last two home games against a resurgent Manchester United and title-chasing Tottenham but before that had won their previous three home league games against Brighton, Wolves and Southampton.

In two of those games, Cardiff won 2-1 and a similar scenario could be expected here.

Huddersfield have lost by the odd goal against Brighton, Bournemouth, Arsenal, Newcastle,  Fulham and Burnley in recent weeks, scoring in three of those matches, while they also scored at Old Trafford in a 3-1 defeat.

Given those performances, the suggestion is to back both teams to score at around 11/10, while a 2-1 Cardiff win could provide a touch of value at 10/1.

Crystal Palace v Watford

The natural reaction when discussing Crystal Palace’s form and the prospect of winning their next home match is to scratch the temple and raise the eyebrows.

Roy Hodgson’s side are difficult to weigh up, especially at Selhurst Park, where they are the joint-lowest home scorers in the league but have the best home defensive record after Liverpool and Chelsea.

Along with Tottenham, who have played one fewer home game, Palace have conceded just nine goals in their ten league home matches, and have already played Arsenal, Tottenham, Liverpool and Chelsea at Selhurst Park.

Palace have kept clean sheets at home against Cardiff, Leicester, Burnley and Newcastle this season and, while they are priced at 5/4 to win the match, they can be backed at 11/4 to win to nil.

Watford are up to eighth in the league and are also difficult to predict, with three wins, three losses and four draws in their ten away league matches and seem to struggle with balls into their box.

That could give the chance for Crystal Palace defenders Mamadou Sakho and James Tomkins to make an impact from corners. Tomkins is 33/1 to score first and 12/1 to score at any time, while Sakho is 50/1 to grab the first goal and 20/1 to get on the scoresheet at any time during the match.

Leicester v Southampton

Leicester are up to seventh in the league and are in with a chance of qualifying for European competition, but it’s difficult to get a handle on their home form with league wins over Manchester City, Wolves, Huddersfield and Watford tempered by defeats to Liverpool, Everton, Cardiff and Tottenham.

If we take the Cardiff defeat as a blip, in which Leicester had twice the amount of possession and more than twice the number of shots and shots on target, Leicester have only lost to teams in the top half of the league.

At first glance, that suggests evens about a Leicester win could be a good bet but their opponents, Southampton, are showing signs of life under new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

A goalless draw away at Chelsea was a step in the right direction and they will have more attacking intent against Leicester.

With that in mind and in the expectation that Southampton’s results could start to improve, a draw could be the way to go at 5/2.

Chelsea v Newcastle

Chelsea’s lack of a confident in-form striker is beginning to take its toll on performances with a 0-0 league draw at home to Southampton followed by a toothless display in the first leg of the league cup semi-final against Tottenham in midweek.

Maurizio Sarri’s side were the better team for long periods at Wembley but are too reliant on the talents of Eden Hazard to break teams down.

With Newcastle boasting the best defensive record in the bottom half of the Premier League and Rafa Benitez likely to defend deep and allow Newcastle no space in which to play, Chelsea could again be forced to wait to make a breakthrough.

Chelsea enjoyed 83 per cent possession against Newcastle at St James’ Park in the reverse fixture and finally breached a stubborn defensive unit in the 76th minute with a penalty.

A similarly patient display may be needed at Stamford Bridge and it could be worth taking a chance on it being a draw at half-time and Chelsea to win the match at odds of 3/1.   

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