Premier League Game of the Week: A different kind of London derby

For Arsenal, fresh off a confidence-building win over rival Manchester City, this game is proof that the Arsenal renaissance is not a fluke. It’s a chance to dominate one local rival in Chelsea while throwing down the gauntlet at another in Spurs. It’s a chance to scream to the rafters that this is Arsenal’s season, not City’s, and that the balance of power in English soccer is decidedly shifting south.

But where are the best bets in all of this? We think they’re here:

Moneyline — This is a remarkably balanced game — odds on a Chelsea victory (+220), a draw (+240) and an Arsenal victory (+125) are relatively close. We think Arsenal are the most likely victors here, given that Mikel Arteta has a fantastic record against Chelsea and Arsenal has won five of its last six Premier League games against the Blues. But we don’t think Arsenal’s victory is guaranteed to be straightforward. At +350, an Arsenal victory with both teams to score feels like a solid choice.

Corners — Arsenal is a corner factory; there’s no getting around it. The Gunners have played eight Premier League games this season and only two of them have generated fewer than 10 corners — last round’s tight, tetchy game with Manchester City and August’s bore-fest against Crystal Palace. (And in that game, it was Palace letting the corner stat down: Arsenal managed eight of them on its own.) Chelsea hasn’t been quite so aggressive with its corners this season, but with stats like Arsenal’s it really doesn’t matter. We think it’s a steal to bet on 10+ corners in this match at +125.

Anytime Goalscorer — We want good things for Kai Havertz, a perfectly inscrutable player who seems excellent at everything except scoring goals. He gets himself into fantastic positions so often that his low scoring numbers just boggle the mind. What better time for him to find the back of the net than against Chelsea, his former club? It would mean a lot to Havertz and would send a clear message to his former employers. He’s at +300 as an anytime goalscorer — decent odds for a striker.