Premier League predictions: Jones Knows says Chelsea will beat Arsenal with a clean sheet | Soccer News

By Margaret L. Bonetti On Apr 20, 2022

Our tipster Jones Knows presents a massive midweek Premier League fixture list and backs Chelsea to pick up three points against Arsenal.

Chelsea vs Arsenal, Wednesday 7.45pm, live on Sky Sports

Thomas Tuchel takes charge of Chelsea for the 50th time in the Premier League and he can celebrate this milestone by keeping another clean sheet against the failed Gunners, who look set to lose their fourth Premier League game in a row – something that doesn’t s hasn’t been produced since 1995.

Tuchel’s side have kept 25 clean sheets in their 49 Premier League games in the hot seat. This resulted in his side having conceded the fewest goals of any Premier League team during their reign at the club (36).

Arsenal are not a million miles away from being able to match Chelsea at full strength, but their lack of cover in key areas of the pitch threatens to derail what has been a very positive season.

Without Kieran Tierney and Thomas Partey, Arsenal’s Premier League win rate drops from 71% to 36%. In 14 games this season while both were out, Arsenal have lost eight of those games. Mikel Arteta’s side have also lost all five Premier League games to the current top three by an aggregate score of 15-1.

Having scored just two goals in their last five Premier League games, confidence in attack must be at rock bottom, so a nil win for Chelsea is certainly price-appealing.

SCORE PREDICTION: 2-0 | FOCUS ANGLE: Chelsea win to zero (5/2 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)

Manchester City v Brighton, Wednesday 8pm

Kevin De Bruyne is on track for his career-high goal tally this season. A player usually associated with creating chances now scores them.

His goal against Liverpool was the first time in his career that he has scored in four consecutive matches in all competitions. He is also on course to beat his personal goalscoring tally in a Premier League season now – with the goal being his 11th on his record 13. The Belgian midfielder is now aiming to score in three consecutive league games for the first time since October. 2015 – and City should offer him plenty of opportunities as a big performance is expected after Pep Guardiola decided to rest several of his key players midweek.

Graham Potter may regularly mix up his pack in terms of players, but the team’s structure and attacking ethos always remains the same even when facing Manchester City. This usually ends up playing way too openly and conceding a bunch of goals against Guardiola’s side. Since taking over, Potter has conceded an average of 3.3 goals per 90 minutes (20 in six games) at Manchester City. There shouldn’t be too many problems for City in this one.

SCORE PREDICTION: 4-0 | FOCUS ANGLE: Kevin De Bruyne will score and Man City will win (5/4 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)

Everton v Leicester, Wednesday 7.45pm

Leicester City are expected to play an important role in Everton’s decision to become a Premier League side next season. Brendan Rodgers’ side will face the Toffees twice in the run-in after various postponements and rescheduling of both fixtures due to the European Covid and Leicester campaign. Having to face Leicester twice is surely a great outcome for Frank Lampard’s side, especially with the upcoming fixtures against Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.

However, they are completely impossible to save here.

A completely liquidated Leicester side with Jonny Evans and the huge figure of Wesley Fofana in their ranks trading at 2/1 with Sky Bet to beat Everton would usually get my punt juice flowing. But at this stage of the season when teams have their eyes on other commitments, bettors should exercise caution when investing in particular teams.

With Goodison Park likely to be in a rowdy mood – a place where Lampard has generated nine out of a possible 15 points available since taking charge – I’ll deflect my instincts to support Leicester at what seems like a tasty price. Play the coin toss.

SCORE PREDICTION: 1-1 | FOCUS ANGLE: Return of the draw (11/4 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)

Newcastle v Crystal Palace, Wednesday 7.45pm

Newcastle have taken 26 points from 13 Premier League games in 2022, winning eight of those games. In a Premier League table including only games since New Year’s Day, Newcastle would be third. At a price of 13/10 with Sky Bet, I think they can be trusted here.

But my main game sees me rolling the dice on Dan Burn to score again. He will appear before the end of the campaign.

Good quality chances have fallen Burn’s path in his 10 starts for Newcastle, equating to an expected goalscoring figure of 0.97, including two shots on goal in the win over Leicester, where he was the target of every free kick pumped into the box – as seen for his part in Toon’s opening goal. He’s the game of value to score a header against a side who have conceded 10 goals from corners this season – only Leicester have dispatched more.

SCORE PREDICTION: 2-1 | FOCUS ANGLE: Dan Burn will score first (40/1 with Sky Bet – Bet Here!)

Burnley v Southampton, Thursday 7.45pm

Burnley’s change in mentality to play ‘must-win’ football in the last three games has had a positive effect on the number of goals there will be in their games. The games have been much more open, with their last three seeing seven goals scored and an expected total goals of 13.45 when the two teams were combined. This xG figure tells the whole story.

How the 1-1 draw with West Ham stayed below 2.5 was all about the sheer brilliance of Nick Pope and the general wastefulness of Maxwel Cornet from 12 yards.

Southampton are also a reliable side when it comes to high scoring games. Their away games this season have averaged 3.27 goals per 90 minutes, with 60% of those games producing four or more goals.

The markets have a goal line around 2.5 goals, which I think is too low. That means backing off is the way to go.