Arsenal vs Sevilla: Betting preview ahead of Emirates Cup clash

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Arsenal complete their final pre-season preparations when we take on Sevilla in the Emirates Cup on Saturday afternoon [12.30pm kick-off].

Mikel Arteta has been busy strengthening his squad this summer and the boss has brought in some top class players. Gabriel Jesus is the stand-out acquisition having arrived from Manchester City and the Brazilian will hugely improve Arsenal’s front-line.

Oleksandr Zinchenko is another superb signing from the Premier League champions while Fabio Vieira’s arrival was a nice surprise. Matt Turner and Marquinhos will be squad players who add depth so overall it’s been an excellent window so far. And there should be a couple more arrivals before the end of August to look forward to as well.

It’s been a very encouraging pre-season for the Gunners as we’ve won all of our matches and looked excellent during a 4-0 win over Chelsea last week. It’s a bit of a surprise then to see the bookmakers and online casinos backing us to miss out on the top four again. In fact, most bookies think Arsenal will finish sixth!

Given how much Arteta has improved the squad and how close we came to coming fourth last year, I’m quietly confident Arsenal will qualify for the Champions League next season. There could be money to be made if you back our current odds of 7/4 to finish in the top four.

Betting odds

Back to today’s game and Arsenal are the 1/2 favourites with sites like https://www.robinroo.org/en to beat Sevilla at the Emirates. You can get 4/1 on the Spaniards claiming victory in north London but I’m backing the boys to get the job done.

As it’s still a pre-season friendly, I’m expecting goals and over 2.5 match goals is a solid bet at 5/4. Both teams to score at 4/7 is also tempting.

Jesus to start

Arteta is expected to field his strongest side and probably the eleven that will face-off against Crystal Palace in Arsenal’s Premier League opener next week. Aaron Ramsdale will start in goal with Ben White at right-back in the absence of Takehiro Tomiyasu – who’s still working on his fitness.

William Saliba should play his first game at the Emirates with Gabriel and Zinchenko making-up the back four. Thomas Partey and Granit Xhaka are likely to anchor the midfield with captain Martin Odegaard just in front. Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli should support Jesus in attack and they’re likely to cause Sevilla plenty of problems.

Prediction: Arsenal 3-1 Sevilla

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