Arsenal must click into gear to avoid another dismal away day at Inter Milan
Arsenal need to find form with immediate effect or risk heading into the international break with serious concerns about the wheels falling off their bandwagon.
That’s a daunting task with a Champions League trip to face Inter Milan at the San Siro before making the shorter journey across London on Sunday to take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.
The Gunners have drifted from 15/8 to win the title before a ball was kicked at the start of the season to 7/2 with Ladbrokes, Coral and Sky Bet after taking just one point from the last nine following defeats at Bournemouth and Newcastle and a draw at home to Liverpool.
They are already seven points behind the Reds, who are top of the table, and although Arsenal cannot be discounted as they chase their first title in 21 years there’s a lot of ground to make up.
In between those league matches were a routine 3-0 win at Preston in the Carabao Cup and an unconvincing 1-0 victory at home to Shakhtar in the Champions League. The Gunners’ recent performances have been suspect at best and a country mile away from the dominant displays in the flying start to the campaign and truly impressive victories at Aston Villa and Tottenham along with the draw at Manchester City.
On the face of it, they are in for another loss at Inter who have won seven of their last eight matches – drawing 4-4 with Juventus in the other one – but the Italians have also been far from convincing in some recent outings.
They struggled against lowly Venezia, requiring a goal from Lautaro Martinez to take all three Serie A points, while Marcus Thurman had to snatch an injury-time winner at Young Boys in their last appearance in Europe.
However, the Nerazzurri have only lost once at home this season, a 2-1 defeat in the Milan derby, and that was their first loss in any competition in front of their own fans since Sassuolo caused an upset at the end of September last year.
The Gunners have missed Martin Odegaard’s quality in midfield and will be boosted if he returns for the trip to Italy but Inter still appeal at 13/8 with Unibet and Martinez is 6/1 with the same firm and BetUK to break the deadlock with his third goal in as many matches.
He is 23/10 with the same firms to score at any time and under 2.5 goals is 8/11 with William Hill, Betfair and bet365.
• Aston Villa have made a flying start to the season in Europe, despite the 4-1 spanking at Tottenham on Sunday, and can solidify their position at the top of the Champions League table by winning at Club Bruges at 23/20 with Betway, bet365, Betfred and Betfair. Ollie Watkins is the obvious choice to bang in the first goal at 24/5 with Unibet, who go 33/20 he scores at any time. A 3-1 Villa win is 18/1 with William Hill.
• Leeds can improve their promotion claims at the top of the Championship by winning at Millwall while Derby can take maximum points at Coventry. Stick them in a Wednesday night double.
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