Five Premier League matches have been postponed due to coronavirus issues this weekend but there is still a top-flight double header for punters to work with as Arsenal make the trip to Elland Road to face injury-hit Leeds United and Aston Villa take on Burnley.
The problems are piling up for Leeds boss Marcelo Bielsa, fresh from a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City on Tuesday, with as many as eight first-team players set to miss out against Arsenal, who have understandably been well backed to win.
Given those issues, the Gunners have been cut to 20/23 as they aim to maintain fourth spot in the Premier League, a position gained by beating West Ham 2-0 on Wednesday.
However, Arsenal are difficult to trust on their travels where they have not only lost heavily to Manchester City and Liverpool and 3-2 to top-four rivals Manchester United, but also suffered defeats to Brentford and Everton.
They were also poor in a 0-0 draw with Brighton and the 1-0 win at Burnley which is in total contrast to an impressive home record.
Goals may be in Short Supply
Manager Mikel Arteta, with the help of summer signing Aaron Ramsdale, has tightened Arsenal up defensively and that could make under 2.5 goals an appealing bet at 21/20.
The London outfit have kept five clean sheets in the last eight games and four of their five games against the current bottom six were also under 2.5 goals.
Lowly Leeds are in a world of pain when it comes to injury and suspension with Junior Firpo’s fifth yellow card of the season at City ruling him out of the clash. Dan James and Jamie Shackleton picked up injuries in that Etihad mauling, joining Patrick Bamford, Kalvin Phillips, Liam Cooper, Rodrigo Moreno and Pascal Struijk on the sidelines.
Robin Koch is at least available following injury and alongside Diego Llorente provides a high-class centre-back pairing relative to what else is available, but it is difficult to see where Leeds will score their goals without the talismanic Bamford.
Arsenal are also missing their main goal threat with axed skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang dropped by the club and that could lead to a tighter game than the odds suggest.
Villa Value for Another Victory
The earlier match sees Aston Villa host Burnley and Steven Gerrard’s team are nicely priced at 5/7 to continue their upward trajectory having forced their way into the top half.
Gerrard has impressed in the hotseat since replacing Dean Smith, winning four of his six Premier League matches and the two defeats were against Manchester City and Liverpool.
On both occasions, Villa were only defeated by a solitary goal and they competed well against two of the best teams in Europe.
Gerrard was renowned at Rangers for being able to organise their defence and he has done exactly the same at Villa, moving away from the three centre-backs used by Smith.
It has taken a while but the exciting Emi Buendia is beginning to find his best form and Danny Ings is available off the bench against his former club, just adding to the Villa options.
Burnley have won only once this season and have not scored in their last three matches either. They have managed just three shots on target too in those flat performances against Newcastle, Wolves and West Ham.
*All odds correct at time of writing
