Having defeated Stoke City on Saturday evening in the Premier League, Arsenal still have a chance of making the top four this season.
Despite repeated calls for his head, Arsene Wenger can steer the Gunners to Champions League football and win the FA Cup. If they achieve this, it must go down as being a successful season, regardless of what the banners say inside the stadium.
If you need to pick up maximum points in the Premier League, Sunderland are probably the one team you would choose to play.
The Black Cats were hugely disappointing in their last home game of the season against Swansea City on the weekend. Swansea were the only team with something to play for but the same can be said about Hull City last weekend and Sunderland managed to defeat them.
Arsenal vs. Sunderland
Premier League – Tuesday 16th May 2017 – 8:45pm
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Draw Best Odd of: 10/1 at Ladbrokes |
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Arsenal
SunderlandArsenal Form
The loss at Tottenham Hotspur towards the end of April seemed to signal the end of any chance Arsenal had of finishing in the top four this season.
However, a run of 3 consecutive victories in the Premier League has seen the Gunners close in on the top four and place pressure on Liverpool going into the final games of the season. The win over Manchester United seems to have kicked some life into Arsenal and they followed that win by defeating Southampton and Stoke.
Arsenal have lost just 2 home matches in the Premier League this season, one against Liverpool in August and the other against Watford at the end of January. Arsenal have won 9 of their previous 11 Premier League home games.
Sunderland Form
Sunderland have nothing left to play for other than pride this season and they didn’t show much of that in the home defeat to Swansea on the weekend.
The Black Cats have won 4 of their previous 25 away Premier League games, a record which doesn’t inspire any confidence heading to the Emirates Stadium. Furthermore, Sunderland have won just 3 of their last 23 games in all competitions, which is a terrible record.
They must produce what will probably be their performance of the season, if they are to get anything from this match.
Team News – Champions League Hopes Still Alive for Arsenal
Alexis Sanchez picked up a knock in the win over Stoke on Saturday and remains a doubt for this match. However, if Liverpool drop points at West Ham on Sunday, Wenger will do everything possible to get him in the Arsenal team for this game.
Sunderland lost both Jason Denayer and Victor Anichebe to injury on Saturday and both are rated as doubtful for this game. Lee Cattermole is back in training but is unlikely to be risked at this stage of the season if not fully fit.
Top Betting Tips
Given the situation of both clubs and the fact the match is at the Emirates Stadium, it’s little surprise to see Arsenal installed as heavy favourites for this match at 2/13 with BetVictor.
The real question is by how many goals will Arsenal win the game and you can get 3/1 with Ladbrokes for Arsenal to win by 2 goals, something which they have done at home to Sunderland in their previous two meetings.
Sunderland have failed to score in 10 of their last 12 Premier League games and BetVictor offer 9/10 for Arsenal to win the match to nil.
Finally, as the season ends, you can get 9/4 with Coral/Ladbrokes for Arsenal to finish in the top four and qualify for the Champions League.