Romelu Lukaku makes his Premier League return on Sunday as Chelsea take on Arsenal at Emirates Stadium.
Bookmaker 10Bet has the odds at 2.20 for the Belgian star to mark his second Chelsea debut with a goal.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: August 21th, 1:30 P.M. (EST)
Lukaku didn’t manage any goals in 15 appearances before leaving Stamford Bridge in 2013, but he’s returned as a completely different player.
“Maturity has been important. I think I’ve learned much more about myself, setting higher standards,” Lukaku said during his introductory press conference.
Chelsea’s new No. 9 scored 193 goals in 357 outings for various teams after leaving London. He’s developed into one of the most prolific forwards in European football.
The 26-year-old added: “As a player, it’s about becoming more complete. In Italy, the game is different, there are tighter spaces, it’s more technical and tactical, which helped me a lot.”
Lukaku has scored only three times in 17 matches against Arsenal and he should be very eager to improve the record on Sunday.
Chelsea’s record as a club looks very poor in the clash as well. The Blues have lost three straight head-to-head meetings against the Gunners and they boast only three wins from the past 14 games.
Arsenal beat Chelsea 1-0 at the Bridge in the most recent matchup to finish last season on a high with a five-game winning streak. But the new campaign got off to a very ugly start for Mikel Arteta’s team as they suffered a 2-0 loss against new boys Brentford last week.
Arteta’s had a real rollercoaster ride as Arsenal manager and he faces another big challenge straight away at the start of 2021-22 with a number of key players not available for him. Gabriel Magalhaes is out with a knee problem, Thomas Partey has injured his ankle ligaments and both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette missed the Brentford match with COVID-19.
Aubameyang is in contention to return on Sunday, but Lacazette remains out. Arsenal looked completely toothless without them last Friday and it could be another frustrating outing for them here.
Against Chelsea, you will need all the offensive quality you can get on the pitch as they simply don’t allow a lot of chances. The Blues’ outstanding defensive play has resulted in 12 clean sheets in 20 Premier League games since Thomas Tuchel took charge.
