Monday Night Football UK version this week features an intriguing English Premier League matchup between Arsenal and Sheffield United. The Gunners are currently in 5th place in the Premiership two points back of 4th place Chelsea and 3rd place Leicester City. They’re just 4 back of second place Manchester City though they’re unlikely to mount any challenge to Liverpool who is 10 points clear even after settling for a draw on Sunday against Manchester United at Old Trafford.
Sheffield United is in 15th place but with the highly competitive nature of the Premiership this season that leaves them just six points back of Arsenal. At the same time they’re in relegation danger and are just a point out of the ‘deadly box’. Sheffield is coming off a scoreless draw at lowly Watford last time out and before that have only one once in their last four in all competitions. They’ve played reasonably well on the defensive end but have had trouble scoring goals. They’ve allowed just three goals in their last five in all competitions but have scored only two.
All of a sudden Arsenal is clicking on all cylinders. They’re undefeated in their last five in all competitions with 4 wins and a draw. They’re coming off a 1-0 win over Bournemouth in EPL action which was preceded by a 4-0 win over Standard Liege in Europa League play. Now the bad news–Arsenal has been considerably more successful at home than on their travels in Premier League play. At Emirates Stadium they are 3-1-0 on the season scoring 8 and conceding 5. Away from home they’re 1-2-1 scoring 5 and conceding six.
The Blades have a 1-0-3 record at Bramall Lane in Premiership competition scoring 2 and conceding 4. In all competitions, they’ve won only 1 of 6 and have failed to score in three straight EPL games. They’ve also lost three straight at home by identical 1-0 scorelines. With the caveat that Arsenal has struggled away from home they definitely look to be the better side here. We’ll back the Gunners in what should be a low scoring contest.
