Spurs vs. Arsenal, EPL Round 22, 16 January 2022 18:30
Spurs vs. Arsenal, EPL Round 22, 16 January 2022 18:30

After going down 3-0 on aggregate to Chelsea on Wednesday night in the EFL Cup semi-finals Spurs will no doubt be bitterly disappointed, but now it’s time for Conte’s men to shift their attention back to the EPL where they will take on the Gunners on Sunday. When looking at Spurs’ EPL record there are a lot of positives and the club has certainly come a long way since Conte has taken the reigns. The Italian still boasts an unbeaten record in the EPL this season that stretches across eight matches. He has managed to take the team from the bottom half of the table to just outside the Top 5 where they now sit in a very healthy sixth spot with 33 points, just two points behind their opponents with three games in hand. Some of their recent league results include a 1-0 win away to Watford, a 1-1 draw away to Southampton and a 3-0 win at home to Crystal Palace. Goalscoring has been very slow for Spurs this season and after being the second lowest scoring team in the league a couple of months ago there was a slight improvement, but unfortunately the attack appears to have slowed down again. This could perhaps be pinned down to their last two league fixtures taking place away from home as their last five home matches have seen them netting at least five goals, or perhaps it has to do with the injury of one of their top strikers Son. They didn’t have much success at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Wednesday night in the EFL Cup, but a home EPL clash will no doubt be welcomed by Spurs and hopefully they can keep their decent EPL goalscoring record alive and pull off a positive result on Sunday.

The Gunners will have their tails up after forcing a stalemate at Anfield in the first leg of their EFL Cup quarter-final tie with Liverpool. They now hold advantage going into the second leg at the Emirates and the positive result would have provided a much-needed morale boost after their surprise FA Cup exit. Prior to their cup matches things were going really well in the league for Arsenal. Unfortunately their last EPL clash saw them losing at the death to Manchester City, but it was arguably one of their best performances of the season and had some ill-discipline not led to a red card they may very well have walked away with at least a point against the league-leaders. Prior to their loss to City they were on a four match winning streak that saw them scoring 14 goals and their attack was looking very lethal. With so many of their players still on national duty at AFCON or out of action due to Covid it remains to be seen how long it will take for the Gunners to return the same form they had at the end of last year. But with the likes of Lacazette, Nketiah, Saka and Martinelli all still available on Sunday they definitely have the capability to pull off the win against Spurs.

In the last five EPL clashes between Spurs and Arsenal the results are even with each side winning two matches and one match ending in a draw. Interestingly Arsenal have won the last two matches at the Emirates and Spurs have won the last two matches at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The sides have already met once this season at the Emirates where Arsenal won 3-1, while the last match on Spurs’ home turf saw them winning 2-0. Four out of the last five matches has featured more than 2.5 goals and only one of the last five encounters has seen only one team finding the back of the net.

Prediction

The fans could not have asked for a better way to end off the EPL weekend and we should be in for a cracking clash. I’m expecting a huge performance from the home team to make up for their EFL Cup exit, while the away team should be able to put their FA Cup disappointment behind them and put in another top league performance. I feel that Arsenal’s attack can get back to where it was a few games ago and I am expecting a few goals from them in this one, while Spurs have an excellent goalscoring record in EPL home games this season. In addition to this, only one of the last five EPL clashes between the teams has had fewer than 2.5 goals so I am more than happy to have a bet on over 2.5 goals in the match. It’s difficult for me to choose a winner in this one simply because the teams are on a very similar level right now. Spurs are unbeaten in their last five EPL home matches, but Arsenal did walk away comfortable winners earlier this season. I feel more confident that both sides will find the net in this match so I would rather back both teams to score instead of choosing a match winner since the clash could really go either way. Lastly, I will have another bet on Bukayo Saka to score in the match at odds of 3.70. Although the odds aren’t as decent as before he does seem like the most likely candidate to score for the Gunners after scoring in all of his last three EPL appearances.

BetOlimp Best Bets

Total Goals: Total 2.5 over – 2.01
Both teams to score: yes – 1.77
Anytime Goalscorer: Bukayo Saka – 3.70 

 
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