Arsenal vs Chelsea Betting Analysis

Jose Mourinho's side will arrive at Highbury on Sunday boasting a 17-point lead over sixth-placed Arsenal with just 16 games played so far in the Premiership season. While the Gunners away record is dreadful, at home they have won all seven Premiership games so far this season and 13 in a row in total dating back to February. That record is sure to come under intense scrutiny on Sunday, even though you have to go back s to 1990 to find the last time Chelsea took three league points away from Highbury. Hernan Crespo has already declared his side can claim maximum points in North London, and in the process move a step closer to retaining their title. Already there is plenty of much publicised bad feeling between the two managers, and Crespo's comments are only going to inflame the atmosphere at the weekend. Arsene Wenger must be desperate to put one over Jose Mourihno after the flurry of exchanges a few weeks ago, and what better way to do that than with three points. There is also the small matter of Arsenal trailing the leaders by a mammoth seventeen points, and so victory is vital if the Gunners have any desire to re-enter the title race. A win is also important to potentially leapfrog Bolton, and close the gap on Spurs who currently occupy the last remaining Champions League qualification spot. Arsene Wenger is boosted with the news Dennis Bergkamp will be fit to face Chelsea on Sunday. The Dutchman has been badly missed in the recent away defeats, and also enjoys a superb record against the Blues having played a pivotal role in helping the Gunners stat unbeaten in 17 meetings with Chelsea between 1998 and 2004. While Bergkamp returns, Arsenal will be without Silva, who is suspended after his sending-off against Newcastle. That is actually quite good news for the purposes of this preview, as the two cautions for the normally well behaved Brazilian were very much against the norm. The more combative Mathieu Flamini is the likely replacement. The market of course of major interest is bookings. This fixture has a history of being explosive, although the last four games have averaged four yellows a contest. That though is comforting in that for what could be a massive make-up, the risks attached aren't huge. Last season may not have seen a red when Arsenal and Chelsea met, but go back a couple of years and the red and yellows were in plentiful supply. In charge on Sunday is Rob Styles, who isn't quite the card giving machine of a few years ago. That isn't to say Styles doesn't have his moments, as was so when Chelsea played at White Hart Lane. On that occasion there were five players booked and one sent off. His Premiership average for this season stands at 30, although very few of his games if any will have had the same intensity as what we can expect Sunday. For further comfort about Rob Styles, last season there were a few occasions when he behaved like the referee he was when first on the Premiership scene. Newcastle v Spurs in the Cup was one such game when nine players were booked, as well as the Merseyside derby with a make-up was 75. The FA Cup final can also not be forgotten when despite his best efforts to keep a lid on proceedings between Arsenal and Man Utd, he still ended up dismissing Reyes and booking six. All in all there is sufficient evidence Styles will produce when required. There are a few bets worth taking. Firstly, a buy of the books is a must at 54. We have already discussed the potential for a high make-up with little risk. In addition, it is worth investing a small amount in a red card at 7/2 and also the 33/1 available on Essien to be shown red. If we cast our minds back to Stamford Bridge in October, Rob Styles only showed a yellow card to the Ghanaian for a horrific challenge against Tal Ben Haim of Bolton Wanderers. Although Styles promised to look closer at the incident and indeed admitted he should have shown red, FIFA rules do not allow upgrading of yellow cards to red on video evidence. Given the same opportunity again on Sunday, Rob Styles won't make the same error twice and would surely give Essien his marching orders given the same circumstances. Essien was sent off twice while playing for Lyons this year and collected 14 yellow cards last season. Ideally the Chelsea midfielder is the one facing immediate suspension, but if not there is a possibility someone else will do something daft in the red hot atmosphere.