We’ve reached the halfway stage of the 2022/23 Premier League season and we enter arguably the most crucial weekend so far.
The action kicks off with Liverpool hosting Chelsea on Saturday. The two Premier League heavyweights have massively underachieved this season but a win here for either could reignite hopes of a top four finish.
Then on Sunday, Arsenal are home to Manchester United. A win for Man Utd will put them five points behind Arsenal and into title contention. While a win for the Gunners will all but end Man Utd’s title hopes keep their healthy lead at the top of the Premier League table, which is currently five points.
There will be no better place than Bet9ja on a huge weekend of action. With more than 200 markets for all 10 Premier League matches, including soccer player specials, you can live every kick at Bet9ja.
Here’s an in-depth look at Liverpool vs Chelsea and Arsenal vs Man Utd:
Liverpool vs Chelsea
Saturday 21st January 13:30
Anfield
After coming so close to a quadruple last season, few would have expected Liverpool to be struggling in mid-table, halfway into the season. Inconsistency and injuries have hurt Liverpool over the past few months. After beating Manchester City in October, what followed for Jurgen Klopp’s men were defeats by Nottingham Forest and Leeds, in fixtures that would have been comfortable wins in previous years.
More recently, the Reds were embarrassed 3-0 at Brighton last week and easily defeated 3-1 against Brentford the Premier League outing before. Injuries to the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz have clearly hurt. So too has the injury to summer signing Arthur who was brought in to address issues in the midfield, which has often been disjointed and led Liverpool’s downfall this season.
The unwillingness to change from a very high defensive line has led to 25 goals conceded in 18 matches so far and with no van Dijk for the foreseeable future, changes must be made to address this. There was respite midweek with Harvey Elliot’s goal earning a 1-0 win away to Wolves in the FA Cup third round replay. Despite eight changes being made from the Brighton defeat, the win at Wolves can act as a confidence boost for crucial upcoming matches.
Like Liverpool, Chelsea are underperforming on 28 points, a place below the Reds in 10th. Graham Potter has endured a dreadful start to life as Chelsea manager, winning just nine of his 20 matches in charge, losing seven. For a team with such high expectations, those figures aren’t good enough. Again like Liverpool, injuries haven’t helped but performance levels have been poor. To sum up Chelsea’s struggles, particularly going forward, before the 1-0 win against Crystal Palace the Blues had the 16th lowest tally for average shots per game and 15th lowest expected goals per game.
The Kai Havertz winner was Chelsea’s second win in the previous 10 league matches but at least it’s something to build on. The signing of highly-rated Ukrainian international Mykhalio Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk in a deal which could reach £89 million (€100 million), is a major and timely boost and he could feature from the bench on Sunday.
Liverpool have won the last two meetings between the sides, both on penalties in the finals of last season’s FA Cup and EFL Cup. The last two Premier League meetings have been draws. A score draw could be worth looking at with Bet9ja. We’ve priced up a 1-1 correct score at 7.40 and 2-2 at 13.25. A draw and over 1.5 goals is priced up at 4.65 and a draw and over 2.5 goals is 10.50. But a win would be essential for either team, to keep top four chances alive.
Far from his best, Mo Salah still has seven league goals to his name this season. A big match player and scored the winner against Man City in October, you can get odds of 5.50 for Salah to score first and 2.50 anytime, at Bet9ja.
Bet9ja odds (at time of writing): Liverpool win: 1.90, Draw: 3.75, Chelsea win: 4.00
Arsenal vs Manchester United
Sunday 22nd January 17:30
Emirates Stadium
Last Sunday’s 2-0 victory at Tottenham was as a statement win for Arsenal. The Gunners were excellent throughout and more than deserved the points. They might have got a helping hand through a lucky own goal by Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris, but Martin Odegaard’s excellent strike before half-time all but sealed the three points before a mature and dominant display in the second half.
If beating fellow top six clubs was Mikel Arteta’s sides weakness last season, that has well and truly been addressed this time around. Arsenal have recorded victories against Liverpool, Chelsea and twice against Tottenham, and will meet Man City in the league for the first time this season, next month. Captain Odegaard has been the most outstanding performer, scoring eight times in the league this season, and an early contender for Premier League player of the season. Bukayo Saka isn’t too far away from contention with six goals to his name and got his seventh assist of the season in the North London derby.
Man Utd are the only team to beat Arsenal so far this season in the league. That victory at the start of the season was part of a resurgence after losing the first two matches under Erik ten Hag, with Marcus Rashford bagging two goals. Fast forward several months and United have got themselves into serious title contention. Ten Hag’s men had recorded nine straight victories in all competitions since Cristiano Ronaldo’s last appearance in a Man Utd shirt, but were denied a 10th due last minute equaliser by Michael Olise in Wednesday’s 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace. That win would’ve taken United above Man City into second, but they are now eight points behind Arsenal with the chance to cut the lead down to five on Sunday.
The aforementioned Rashford will be key on Sunday, despite failing to add to his eight league goals and 16 overall against Crystal Palace. However, Casemiro will be a big loss, serving a one-match suspension after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season.
Both teams have two victories each in the last five league meetings between the two. Last season’s fixture ended 3-1 to Arsenal. We could expect to see a tight encounter with two solid defences who don’t concede many goals. Under 1.5 goals is priced up at 3.95 at Bet9ja. Arsenal are slight favourites for this, and if you back them for the narrow victory, you can get odds of 8.30 for a home win and under 1.5 goals. The in form Odegaard is 12.25 to score first and 5.25 anytime, which could be very tempting odds.
Bet9ja odds (at time of writing): Arsenal win: 1.90, Draw: 3.80, Man Utd win: 4.00
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