Arsenal will be looking to continue their excellent recent form when they take on Watford at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
The Gunners have recovered from a nightmare start to the season to embark upon a nine-game unbeaten run in all competitions which has put them back in contention for the European qualification places.
Arsenal head into the weekend action sitting sixth in the Premier League table following an impressive 2-0 win at Leicester City last time out and are just three points adrift of third-placed Manchester City so Mikel Arteta will be desperate to close the gap with victory over Watford in north London.
The Hornets on the other hand make the short trip to the Emirates Stadium lying just three points outside the relegation zone after losing to Southampton on Saturday so they’re also in dire need of a positive result.
Betting odds
Understandably, Arsenal are priced as the 2/5 favourites with the main bookmakers to win the game on Sunday. Watford can be backed at odds of 6/1 to claim a surprise victory while the draw is available at 7/2.
The Gunners have looked far more solid at the back in recent weeks and will be confident of secure another clean sheet. A 2-0 Arsenal win is priced at odds of 6/1 and that looks like a solid bet to us.
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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang wasn’t on the score-sheet at Leicester but he’s been in good form lately and is 2/1 to open the scoring against Watford. Emile Smith Rowe is good value to score at any time at odds of 3/1.
Team news
Arsenal will monitor the fitness of Kieran Tierney in training this week after the Scottish international sat out his third successive game due to an ankle injury that he picked up last month. Nuno Tavares is on stand-by to fill-in once again if Tierney fails to prove his fitness.
Granit Xhaka is certain to miss out as the midfielder continues to work his way back from a serious knee injury so Albert Sambi Lokonga is expected to line-up alongside Thomas Partey in the middle of the park.
Watford will be without Peter Etebo due to a thigh injury while Emmanuel Dennis [suspension] and Christian Kabasele [thigh injury] are also missing.
Kiko Fermenia will be handed a late fitness test due to a groin injury that he sustained against Liverpool two weeks ago and Francisco Carvallo also remains a doubt with a thigh problem.
Predicted score
Arsenal are on a fine run of form and looked extremely impressive during the recent wins over Aston Villa and Leicester City so Arteta will be confident of keeping the run going with another victory this weekend.
Watford can be a dangerous side on their day and will hope to cause the Gunners some problems but Arsenal should have too much quality in the end. Arsenal 2-0 Watford
