Can an Alexis Sanchez-less Arsenal defeat Chelsea in their EFL Cup semi-final 2nd leg this Wednesday evening?

The Gunners finally registered their first win of 2018 on Saturday, scoring 4 goals in the opening 22 minutes of their visit from Crystal Palace to secure a 4-1 victory. That still leaves their domestic positioning looking a bit ropey, however – in 6th place they are likely unthreatened by Leicester, 8 points behind in 7th, but may struggle to break the top 4, being 5 points adrift of Liverpool.



While it hasn’t massively helped them out in the league, the result did, at least, come as a welcome distraction from Sanchez’s transfer saga, with the Chilean finally making his way to Manchester – interestingly United, not the long reported City – in a part-exchange move that sees Henrikh Mkhitaryan arrive at the Emirates on Monday.

The underappreciated Armenian won’t make an appearance this Wednesday, cup-tied after playing for United in the quarter-finals, meaning Alexandre Lacazette – who closed out the scoring against Palace – may have to put an extra shift in. The Frenchman heads into the 2nd leg at a Super Mega PGM of 39-45, ahead of 4th round and quarter-final scorers Edward Nketiah and Danny Welbeck, both at 19-23, and Alex Iwobi, at 13-17.

As for Chelsea, they’ll have to do without Alvaro Morata, who’s out with a back injury after missing Saturday’s trip to Brighton. Not that they missed the Spaniard, with the Blues coming away from the south coast with a 4-0 win thanks to a brace from Eden Hazard, who sits at a Super Mega PGM of 28-33, alongside goals from Willian, at 19-23, and Victor Moses.

That victory at the Falmer Stadium extended Chelsea’s unbeaten streak to 11 games in all competitions (a stat that admittedly becomes a tad less impressive when you factor in 5 draws and an FA Cup replay against Norwich). Their recent record against Arsenal isn’t quite as strong, however – in their last 7 meetings the Gunners have lost only once.

Given there must be a winner on Wednesday, Antonio Conte might do well not to dwell on that fact too much. As for our Spreadex traders, after the 1st leg’s 0-0 draw they’ve found it just too close to call, offering a choice Arsenal/Chelsea Goal Supremacy spread of -0.1-0.1, alongside a Total Goals spread of 2.75-2.95 and a slightly feisty Bookings spread of 43-47.