Arsenal have shaken up a lot of football betting markets this season. Tracking the Arsenal odds on the top betting apps all over the world, including on the best sport betting app Australia offers, has shown their status as match favourites get stronger this term. From having missed several seasons of UEFA Champions League football in a row, they have bolted up into Premier League title contenders in the 2022/23 season.
Will their challenge at the top be sustained over the second half of the season? Will the Gunners push forward deeper into this season’s UEFA Europa League as well? A big season potentially lies ahead for Mikel Arteta’s team.
Arsenal’s Premier League Struggles
The last time that Arsenal landed a top-four finish in the English top flight was in the 2015/16 season. That was the remarkable campaign in which Leicester City defied massive 5000/1 outsider odds to win the league title.
That season was a huge, missed opportunity for Arsenal though. The Gunners finished second behind the Foxes, but 10 points adrift. Since then, it has been a long barren spell for Arsenal outside the Premier League top four.
Arsenal’s League Finishes Since 2016
2016/17 – 75 pts, 5th
2017/18 – 63 pts, 6th
2018/19 – 70 pts, 5th
2019/20 – 56 pts, 8th
2020/21 – 61 pts, 8th
2021/22 – 69 pts, 5th
Impressive Home Form By The Gunners
One clear thing that has boosted Arsenal’s challenge in the 2022/23 season has been their form at the Emirates. In this strange season disrupted by the FIFA World Cup mid-season break, Arsenal didn’t miss a beat on home turf before that point.
They posted six wins from six in the Premier League at the Emirates ahead of the break. Breaking down the stats from that run of home form paints a further picture of where their success has come from.
The Gunners averaged 3.17 goals per home game in those six fixtures. In comparison, they averaged 1.84 goals per home fixture last season in the Premier League.
Front Line Free And Firing
Where have the goals come from? In February 2022, Arsenal let their main striker Pierre Emerick Aubamyang depart for Barcelona. Arsenal ended the season with only two players reaching double figures in front of goal (Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe).
Making those around him better
But the addition of former Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus in the summer changed the picture. The Brazilian has formed part of a powerful front three along with Gabriel Martinelli and Saka. But with attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard also weighing in with the goals, this season there has been a prolific sharing of the goalscoring responsibilities.
Striking The First Blow
Impressively, a lot of Arsenal’s success has come from them landing the first blow in matches. The Gunners scored the opening goal in five of their six home matches played before the World Cup break.
That’s an 83% strike rate in that statistic and advantageously, Arsenal carried a lead into the half-time break in 4 of the 6 matches (W4 D2). That has made Arteta’s half-time team talks a lot easier. Half-time leads have given them a great platform.
63% of the home goals that Arsenal tallied up were scored in the second half of home matches (12/19). A lot of that is down to forcing opponents to open up and chase games, allowing Arsenal more space behind defences to kill off matches.
Room For Improvement
It’s hard to pick holes in a record of six wins from six. However, there have been defensive frailties by Arsenal. It was only one clean sheet that they nailed at home in their first six fixtures of the campaign, a 5-0 demolition of relegation-candidates Nottingham Forest.
Tougher Tests To Come
Once the season swings back into action after the World Cup, Arsenal will resume five points clear at the top. They are, however, going to face a long gruelling run to the finish line. It’s not likely that title rivals Manchester City are going to let them have an easy ride.
The Gunners passed big home tests by defeating Liverpool and arch-rivals Tottenham. But the second act of the season will see them still have to face Man City, Newcastle, Manchester United and Chelsea in big home fixtures.
Last term Arsenal lost three of their five matches against fellow top-six finishers. To stay in the title race, that’s a clear area in which they are going to have to improve.
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