Arsenal vs Sheffield United Odds
| Arsenal Odds | -900 |
| Sheffield United Odds | +2000 |
| Draw | +800 |
| Over / Under | 2.5 -275 / +210 |
Arsenal are looking to potentially go top of the league if they are able to collect all three points at the Emirates this Saturday against Sheffield United. The Blades will be looking to gain any sort of momentum after losing eight of their nine matches so far.
The Gunners currently sit third in the league with 21 points and are yet to lose a match. They have been one of the best defensive sides in the league and Arteta has proved that he is a genius when it comes to his tactical set up. I expect more of the same this Saturday.
The Blades have not found many positives in their return to the Premier League this season. They sit rock bottom of the league with just one point and have been an absolute mess defensively, especially for a team that was so defensively organized last season in the Championship.
Let’s get into my Arsenal vs Sheffield United prediction.
Arsenal
Arteta and his men how proved just how good they are in all facets of the game. They have elite finishers, elite ball carriers, elite defenders and now have an elite shot stopper in goal. Arteta has also proved that he is a master tactician, whether that is the set up or in game changes, everything he has done has payed off over the last 15 months.
They are coming off three straight difficult matches against Chelsea, Sevilla, and Manchester City. Those are not only three physically demanding matches, but mentally demanding ones as well.
The Gunners will most likely be without Partey and Jesus in this match as they both picked up muscle injuries in the past week. This changes the way that Arteta will set up his midfield as he will either play Havertz as a more advanced central midfielder or play Jorginho and let Declan Rice push up a tad more.
Eddie Nketiah is a more like-for-like replacement to Jesus as they are similar in playstyle, the main difference being Nketiah has actually been a more efficient finisher, with Jesus underperforming his xG by 0.8.
I also wonder if Arteta will be resting some of his more important players as they have a tough Carabao Cup match on Wednesday against West Ham. Players like Odegaard, Saka, Rice and Martinelli are far too important to the way that Arsenal set up and play, so I would not be surprised if one or two of them were rested for this match as they are most likely thinking it will be a walk in the park.
Sheffield United
Sheffield United have been poor. Really poor. They sit bottom of the Premier League with just a single point and have given up 24 goals, the most in the league. You could say that their stats are worse than how they have played so far, but they deserve to be bottom of the league right now.
They have gotten unlucky with the number of injuries they have sustained, with six of the starting 11 in the opening match of the season being unavailable for selection in this match.
Their xGD after 9 matches is -13.2, -1.47 per match, which is easily the worst in the league. They have been so poor offensively and defensively, with the second-worst xGA and the worst xG. They have struggled to create and have struggled to keep their shape defensively, which makes it virtually impossible to win matches in the Premier League. Yet somehow, they have come very close to picking up points against some of the best sides in the league.
They were just a couple minutes away from beating Tottenham away from home before lightning struck twice and they conceded two injury time goals to end up losing 2-1. They were five minutes away from drawing with Manchester City earlier in the season, and surprisingly they won the xG battle against Manchester United last weekend.
Even though pretty much every advanced metric for Sheffield United is one of the worst in the league, in another world they could have picked up some very impressive points.
Arsenal vs Sheffield United
Prediction
I am interested to see what type of lineup Arteta puts out in this match as they are coming off three straight intense matches and have bigger ones to worry about in the coming weeks. Is it worth risking injury to their most important players against Sheffield United at home?
To me, this feels like a complete let down spot for Arsenal, who are already overvalued at -900. I see some value on Sheffield United in this match, even with all the injuries they have sustained.
I will be taking The Blades +2.5 at -110 in this one. It is one of the ugliest plays of the season so far, but it makes sense as Arsenal may already be planning on their next few matches over this one.
