Football betting tips: Premier League
2pts Arsenal (-2 handicap) at 23/20 (William Hill)
1pt Arsenal (-3 handicap) at 11/4 (Betfair)
1pt Declan Rice 1+ assists at 15/4 (Betway)
BuildABet @ 21/1
- Arsenal -3 goal handicap
- Declan Rice to assist
- Declan Rice to score
Arsenal just can't seem to quite get there this season.
Each turning point, the latest Gabriel Jesus' five goals in two games seemingly solving the Gunners' intertwined centre-forward/creativity issues, has been met with a setback, in this case a recurrence of Bukayo Saka's troublesome hamstring injury.
He's expected to be out for "many weeks" according to Mikel Arteta, presenting the Arsenal manager with yet another problem to solve.
Luckily for Arteta, there is less urgency to find a perfect solution given the standard of their next opponents.
What are the best bets?
Only Southampton (38.9) have allowed more than Ipswich's 35.6 expected goals against (xGA) so far this season, with Kieran McKenna's side exactly where they deserve to be in the table according to the data: second from bottom.
The Tractor Boys have already conceded four goals on four occasions this term, the latest being a home thrashing by Newcastle last weekend.
Without doubt, losing Saka is an enormous blow, but Arsenal supporters will have been encouraged by their side scoring three times after he limped off in the early stages of their 5-1 win at Crystal Palace.
In a match where ARSENAL are prohibitively short in the 1X2, as are all the overs markets, but taking the -2 HANDICAP and -3 HANDICAP at 23/20 and 11/4 feels a sensible way to get them onside.
- CLICK HERE to back Arsenal (-2 handicap) with Sky Bet
- CLICK HERE to back Arsenal (-3 handicap) with Sky Bet
They have scored 5+ goals on seven occasions in the Premier League in 2024 – the most by a top-flight team since 1960.
The Gunners also have a phenomenal recent record against newly-promoted teams at The Emirates, currently on a 12-match winning streak and unbeaten in 41 such matches (W36 D5).
One unavoidable change for Arsenal due to Saka's absence will be at set-pieces.
DECLAN RICE is already a regular corner and free-kick taker, but this is likely to now increase further.
Since being given more responsibility in dead-ball situations Rice has delivered, becoming one of the leading ASSIST providers in the Premier League.
It's not only at set-pieces the England midfielder is a threat however, with the marauding role afforded to him by Arteta seeing him take up much more advanced positions than we were used to seeing during his days as West Ham captain.
Since his role was tweaked in a more obvious way by his manager in late January, Rice has provided 11 assists in 24 appearances, making the 15/4 about him to do so against one of the worst defensive teams in the league enormous value.
Team news and predicted line-ups
To follow
Match facts
- Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 13 league games against Ipswich (W10 D3), since a 2-1 away loss in September 1984.
- Ipswich are winless in their last 11 away league games against Arsenal (D4 L7), losing the last four in a row. Their last such victory was in August 1979 (2-0 under Bobby Robson).
- Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 41 Premier League home games against promoted sides (W36 D5), winning the last 12 in a row. Only Chelsea (43 between 2001 and 2015) have had a longer such run in the competition’s history.
- Arsenal have won their final league game in three of the last four calendar years, though the exception was a 2-1 defeat at Fulham on New Year’s Eve last year. This is the first time their final league game of a year has come at home since 2019, a 2-1 loss to Chelsea in Mikel Arteta’s first game in charge at the Emirates.
- Arsenal have scored 5+ goals in seven different Premier League games in 2024 – the last team to do so in more top-flight games in a single calendar year were Burnley (9 in 1960), while the last time the Gunners did so was in 1931 (8).
- Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 11 Premier League home games (W8 D3), and are the only side without a home defeat so far this term (W5 D3). The Gunners are looking to keep four consecutive home clean sheets in the league for the first time since November/December 2021.
- Ipswich have won two of their last three Premier League away games, having been winless in 12 on the road in the top-flight before this. However, the Tractor Boys are winless in their last 17 Premier League games against sides in the top four of the table (D3 L14), since a 1-0 win against Liverpool at Anfield in January 1995.
- Arsenal have had more different goalscorers than any other side in the Premier League this season (14), with Gabriel Jesus and Declan Rice netting their first goals of the campaign last time out against Crystal Palace.
- Only Manchester City’s Premier League games have seen more goals scored in the opening 15 minutes (13 – F6 A7) than Ipswich’s so far this season (12 – F5 A7).
- Gabriel Jesus has scored five goals in his last two games for Arsenal in all competitions, as many as he had in his previous 45. No player has scored multiple goals in three consecutive appearances for the Gunners (all comps) in the Premier League era.
Odds correct at 1600 GMT (23/12/25)
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