Arsenal – Sunderland

Arsenal and Sunderland square off at Emirates in the 15th round of the Premier League, with both sides in need of points.

The Gunners are going trough a rough patch right now, failing to win in the last three Premier League rounds and getting just 1 victory in their last 5 outings in all competitions. Additionally, injuries are again starting to pile up, with the last one being suffered by Alexis Sanchez in last week’s 1-1 draw at Norwich – a game Arsenal probably deserved to lose. A very promising season could come to an end quickly if Arsenal does not react today.

Sunderland’s two wins in the last two matches against Crystal Palace and Stoke have took some pressure away from the visitors, but they are still in a bad position, just two points above the relegation zone. While Sunderland surely played better recently compared to their abysmal start of the season, it has to be said that their level did not increase by too much – the wins were not against great sides and keeper Pantilimon was arguably man of the match in both of those matches against Palace and Stoke.

Bet on Arsenal vs. Sunderland in the Premier League with the highest odds at 1xBet.

Team news & lineups:

Arsenal is suffering its usual mid-season injury crisis – Sanchez, Welbeck, Wilshere, Rosicky, Coquelin, Cazorla and possibly Gibbs are all out, meaning Arsene Wenger faces disaster on the offensive end – particularly as Walcott hasn’t played in a while and might not be forced on the pitch. Sunderland sweats over the fitness of Larsson and Defoe, but has a full squad otherwise.

Arsenal: Cech – Bellerin, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal – Flamini, Ramsey – Campbell, Ozil, Oxlade-Chamberlain – Giroud

Sunderland: Pantilimon – O’Shea, Coates, Kaboul, Yedlin – Cattermole, M’Vila – Lens, Van Aanholt, Borini – Fletcher

With a crucial Champions League game coming up on Wednesday and having so many injuries in the offensive department, I am sure Wenger will use a pragmatic approach here, try to keep a clean sheet and come up with the winning goal(s) over the 90 minutes. The French manager knows that his side might not have the strength to score at will here and neither does he want his side to run like crazy for a winner until the last minute – which is likely to happen if Arsenal allows a goal.

Sunderland is surely not the most dangerous team in the league offensively, while the Gunners conceded just 4 goals at home this term, so my tip here is Arsenal to win to nil. Look for a rather slow match, with Sunderland defending with confidence and Arsenal passing it around, looking for an opening – which I think they will eventually find. Prediction: Arsenal – Sunderland 1-0.

Pick: Arsenal wins to nil
Odds: 2.00 @ Ladbrokes
Stake: 7
Possible profit: 7
Event date: 5 December