The final matchup of the English Premier League round 6 is scheduled for Monday, September 25th. The Arsenal Gunners will welcome the West Bromwich Baggies to their Emirates Stadium in hope to current midtable ranking and catch up with the top-ranked teams.
It is somewhat unusual to see this contest play out with the Baggies holding a better table ranking than the Gunners. West Brom has won 8 points (2W2D1L) and is currently ranked 10th, while the Arsenal Gunners, on the other side, have only won 7 points (2W1D2L), ranking 12th after the first 5 rounds. Another interesting fact about this contest is that the home team has been victorious in their last five matchups, with Arsenal winning three home matches and West Brom celebrating two times.
Arsenal vs. West Bromwich
Three-Way: 1: Arsenal -233; X: +466 Draw; 2: West Bromwich +1024
Spread -1.5: Arsenal +106; West -108
Total +3: Over +112; Under -122
ARSENAL
The fact that Arsenal has won the last three games against the Baggies when playing at the Emirates, gives high hopes to Arsene Wenger and the Gunners. Three points won in this game against their neighbors from Birmingham, are of high value, especially when we take a look at the Gunners current table ranking. The duo from Manchester is already 9 points ahead of Arsenal, which creates an additional pressure going into this contest on Monday, but important thing is that the Gunners are sharpening their form, especially in their last four games, winning three games and recording a draw (0:0 against Chelsea in round 5 of the EPL).
Prior to the draw with Chelsea FC, the Arsene Wenger boys have celebrated a convincing 3:0 home win against Bournemouth, while also defeating Koln with 3:1 at home in the Europa League last week. In addition, Doncaster has also felt the Gunners force, as they were knocked out from the Carabao Cup with 1:0. Arsene Wenger decided to rest the starting unit in this match but it was still enough to advance into the next stage of the League Cup competition.
Some very important players will miss the Mondays contest due to injuries. Danny Welbeck, Santi Cazorla, Mesut Ozil and Francis Coquelin are all still listed as injured and will not be ready to play.
WEST BROMWICH
West Bromwich, on the other side, has started their English Premier League campaign in the best possible way, celebrating a minimal 1:0 wins over Bournemouth and Burnley, while also advancing into the next stage of the Carabao Cup, defeating Accrington with 3:1 on the road. Those early wins seemed to have left a negative impact on the Baggies as they went into a small crisis, which resulted in two draws at home turf, against Stoke City (1:1) and West Ham (0:0), while also suffering an away loss to Brighton (1:3). To make things even worse, they were knocked out of the Carabao Cup competition after suffering a 1:2 loss at home to Manchester City. Even in this match, West Brom was holding their fort all the way until the 77th minute, which is when Sane scored his 2nd goal of the match, only to make it the final result 2:1.
Despite the poor results lately, the Baggies manager Tony Pulis, is still more than satisfied with his teams’ current table position. Namely, after the first five rounds of the English Premier League, West Bromwich is ranked 10th with 8 points won and having suffered only one loss. The Baggies can especially be proud on their defensive unit, which allowed only 1 goal so far (not counting the loss to Brighton).
The Baggies will be put to the real test on Monday night when they lock horns with the Gunners at the Emirates. Avoiding a loss in this contest would truly be a statement that West Bromwich means business this season and that they will go for the European competition spots.
Livermore, Brunt, Chadli, and Burke are all going to miss the contest against Arsenal due to injuries.
Arsenal vs. West Bromwich – Match Prediction
Everyone expects a certain win for the Gunners in this match but the visitors have proven so far that they can play well against the best teams in the English Premier League. Additionally, Tony Pulis is one of the best managers in the league whose teams are traditionally one of the best defensive units that are tough to crack. Taking all things in consideration, I will expect a low scoring game, which is why I am taking the under.
MY PICK: Under 3 goals (-122)
