Tuesday Premier League – Arsenal vs Sunderland Preview

May 16, 2017 19:45 – Emirates Stadium

Recent Form (League):

Aresnal: WLWWW

Sunderland: DLLWL

Arsenal will look to keep their slim Champions Leagues’ hopes alive when they welcome already-relegated Sunderland to the Emirates on Tuesday night.

It is a balancing act for under-fire Gunners manager Arsene Wenger as he tries to secure a top four position and win a trophy to appease the restless fans. For 20 successive years the Gunners have secured qualification to Europe’s elite club competition. As well as trying to extend that fantastic run, they will also look to scupper Chelsea’s double ambitions when the two sides meet in the FA Cup Final at the end of this month.

Many fans of the North London club have become disillusioned with the Frenchman’s tenure and perceived lack of recent success. However, this game should prove to be no problem for Wenger and his team as they have only lost twice in the last 29 previous meetings against the Wearsiders and have not conceded more than one goal against them in the league since the 2007/08 season.

Sunderland fans cannot wait for this season to finish and who can blame them? Already relegated, their attention has now turned towards life in the second tier. David Moyes has called this season an embarrassment and it’s hard to disagree. With just six wins and over 60 goals conceded, the Black Cats are a club in crisis and a long trip south to the Emirates will do little to improve their mood.

Previous years’ of miracle escapes could not be sustained and the inevitable relegation that many pundits have been predicting for the last two-to-three years has now finally happened. A home defeat to relegation-threatened Swansea City in the last game sums up just how poor this team is.

Prediction: Arsenal can put temporary pressure on Manchester City for the fourth and final Champions League spot with a win and it is hard to imagine any other result in this game. The Gunners have put three or more goals past their opponents in three of their last four meetings in all competitions, so the home win with over 2.5 goals looks tempting but offers little value at 3/10. As a result, the home win with over 3.5 goals might be a better choice.

You can back the Home Win and Over 3.5 Goals at 8/11 with Betfair.