Arsenal will look to stretch their lead at the top of the Premier League table to seven points, for 24 hours at least, as they face a tricky trip to Elland Road to take on Leeds United on Saturday afternoon.
Arsenal suffered their first home defeat of the season last weekend, as they fell to a 2-3 loss at home to Manchester United, seeing their lead at the top of the Premier League table cut to four points.
Mikel Arteta’s men have now failed to win each of their last three matches in the Premier League (W0-D2-L1), and travel to Yorkshire having won just two of their past six Premier League fixtures on the road (W2-D3-L1).
However, the Gunners did return to winning ways in midweek and ended the league phase of the Champions League with a 100% record following their 3-2 win over Kairat, on an evening I landed a 6/5 winner.
Leeds come into this clash having suffered just one defeat from their last 10 Premier League matches (W3-D6-L1), as they played out a 1-1 draw in Merseyside against Everton on Monday night, meaning they are six points clear of the relegation zone.
Daniel Farke has made his side hard to beat in front of their supporters all season, with the Whites losing just two of their opening 11 home matches since promotion back to the Premier League (W5-D4-L2), with both losses being narrow 1-2 defeats against Spurs and Aston Villa back at the beginning of October and the end of November, respectively.
How the bookies view it: Arsenal favourites
Despite their stumbling run form in the Premier League in recent weeks, Arsenal travel to Elland Road as odds-on favourites, with bet365 pricing an away success at just 8/15.
Leeds are 5/1 underdogs to record back-to-back home wins for the first time this season, whilst the draw is 16/5.
Head to head: Seven wins on the spin for Gunners
Arsenal have dominated this fixture over the past couple of decades, as they are unbeaten in each of their previous 15 meetings with Leeds (W13-D2-L0), winning each of the last seven.
Leeds last beat Arsenal in the penultimate game of the 2002/03 season with a 2-3 victory at Highbury, whilst their previous success at Elland Road against the Gunners was in May 1999.
Players to watch: Another card from Ampadu?
Ethan Ampadu is amongst the joint second-highest players for yellow cards in the Premier League, with the Leeds United captain picking up seven in his 20 appearances in the English top flight.
The Wales international has picked up three of those cards across his last four Premier League appearances, and he is an appealing 11/4 at bet365 to collect another card on Saturday afternoon.
Predicted line-ups:
Leeds will be missing the injured Jaka Bijol, though Gabriel Gudmundsson and Dan James might be available following their respective injuries.
Arsenal appear to only be missing Max Dowman through injury, though William Saliba and Jurrien Timber are doubts. Declan Rice and Mikel Merino return following their European suspensions.
Leeds United: Darlow, Bornauw, Rodon, Struijk, Bogle, Stach, Ampadu, Gruev, Justin, Aaronson, Calvert-Lewin
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Timber, Zubimendi, Odegaard, Rice, Trossard, Saka, Havertz
Anything else catch the eye?
After seeing just seven goals scored across their opening four matches since promotion back to the Premier League, Leeds’s next 19 have averaged an eye-catching 3.26 goals per game, with Both Teams to Score paying out in an impressive 15 (79%) of them – including in eight of their last nine at Elland Road (2-2, 1-2, 2-1, 1-2, 3-1, 3-3, 4-1, 1-1 & 1-0).
Both Teams to Score has also paid out in 15 of Arsenal’s previous 20 matches in all competitions, and a repeat pays an appealing 1/1 at bet365.
Interested in why both teams scoring is such a strong angle? Check out our Masterclass on BTTS and sharpen your match-reading game.
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