- Arsenal top of the Premier League and first in UEL group
- Gunners have won nine home games in a row
- PSV have scored 11 UEL goals in three games, and average 3.5 goals in their league
Arsenal v PSV
Thursday 20 October, 18:00
Life's pretty sweet for Arteta and company
This is a dream start to the season that Arsenal fans don't want to wake up from. Sunday's 1-0 win at Leeds United and Manchester City's defeat at Anfield put the Gunners four points clear at the top of the Premier League. Mikel Arteta's men are still 8.07/1 on the Exchange to claim the title, with City priced at 1.3130/100 and expected to reel them in.
Arsenal were second-best at times at Elland Road (Infogol tell us that Leeds racked up an xG figure of 2.35 compared to Arsenal's 0.86), but Arteta was impressed by how his team dug in. Goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was outstanding, and it didn't do any harm that Leeds striker Patrick Bamford fired a penalty wide of the target with Arsenal leading 1-0.
Things are also looking up in Europe. Arsenal have won all three of their Europa League matches, winning 2-1 at Zurich before a pair of wins over Norwegian side Bodo Glimt. However, the jeopardy remains, as only winning the group guarantees an automatic spot in the last 16, and PSV are just two points behind Arsenal in the standings.
Arteta has done a good job of rotating his squad for this tournament. Eddie Nketiah has scored a couple of goals in attack, Matt Turner has played well in goal, and Portuguese schemer Fabio Vieira has also caught the eye with some excellent performances.
There is likely to be some rotation once again, but as Arsenal would almost certainly go on to claim top spot if they win, Arteta will pick a strong line-up.
First teamers like Granit Xhaka and Bukayo Saka could start, but it will still be a similar line-up to the one we have seen in the competition so far. Emile Smith Rowe, Mohamed Elneny and Oleksandr Zinchenko are all still sidelined.
PSV full of goals
It's perhaps no surprise that a team led by legendary striker Ruud van Nistelrooy should be scoring freely at home and abroad, and PSV have certainly impressed with their attacking play this season.
They have just put 10 goals past hapless Swiss champions Zurich across two matches, and in the Eredivisie they have rattled in 35 goals in 10 games.
They are just a point behind Ajax in the title race, and they are well placed to qualify from the group stage of this competition. A win at the Emirates would put them in pole position to win the group and avoid having to play a Champions League dropout.
Skipper Cody Gakpo was expected to leave the club in the summer, but a move to the Premier League failed to materialise. Gakpo's loss was PSV's gain, as the Dutch international has delivered nine goals and seven assists in ten Eredivisie games, and three UEL goals in three outings.
There are absences elsewhere however. Noni Madueke, Luuk de Jong, Yorbe Vertessen, Marco van Ginkel and Oliver Boscagli are all injured, so van Nistelrooy has to shuffle his pack accordingly. Those absences didn't cause a problem at the weekend, as PSV hammered Utrecht 6-1.
Gunners can win a lively game
You can use the Sportsbook to back Arsenal to win and both teams to score here at 2.89/5, and I think that's the way to go.
Arsenal have an excellent home record, with nine straight wins at the Emirates in all competitions. If you look at both games against Bodo Glimt, Arteta's men gave up chances, and even though we've crashed and burned with some BTTS bets involving Arsenal in this competition, I'm not giving up.
PSV have the firepower to score here, and if Arsenal take the lead, it'll force the Dutch side to be even more progressive.