Arsenal need to stop their alarming decline in the match against Inter Milan | Football

Arsenal need to get into shape immediately or risk heading into the international break with serious concerns about the wheels falling off.

This is not an easy task with Champions League trip to face Inter Milan to San Siro before taking the shorter route through London on Sunday to take over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.

The Gunners went from 15/8 to win the title before the ball was dropped earlier in the season to 7/2 with Ladbrokes, Coral and Sky Bet, having picked up just one point from their last nine after defeats to Bournemouth and Newcastle and a home draw with Liverpool.

They are already seven points behind the Reds at the top of the table and while Arsenal cannot be counted out as they chase their first title in 21 years, they still have a lot of catching up to do.

In between those league fixtures was a routine 3-0 win over Preston in the League Cup and an unconvincing 1-0 win at home to Shakhtar in the Champions League. The Gunners’ recent performances have been suspect at best and come within a mile of a dominant performance in a blistering start to the campaign and truly impressive wins over Aston Villa and Tottenham and a draw at Manchester City.

On the face of it, they are set for another defeat at the hands of Inter, who have won seven of their last eight matches (the other being a 4-4 draw at Juventus), but the Italians have also been far from convincing in some recent matches.

They struggled against lowly Venezia and needed a goal from Lautaro Martinez to take all three Serie A points, while Marcus Thurman had to snatch a stoppage-time winner at Young Boys in their last European outing.

However, the Nerazzurri have only lost once at home this season – a 2-1 defeat in the Milan derby – and it was their first defeat in any competition in front of their own fans since Sassuolo’s upset at the end of September last year. .

The Gunners lack Martin Odegaard’s quality in midfield and will be bolstered if he returns for the trip to Italy, but Inter are still appealing at 13/8 with Unibet and Martinez at 6/1 with the same firm , with BetUK breaking the deadlock with their third goal in as many matches.

He is 23/10 with the same firms to score at any time, and under 2.5 goals is 8/11 with William Hill, Betfair and bet365.

• Aston Villa have made a strong start to the season in Europe despite thrashing Tottenham 4-1 on Sunday and can strengthen their position at the top of the Champions League table with a 23/20 win over Club Brugge at Betway. bet365, Betfred and Betfair. Ollie Watkins is the obvious choice to score the first goal at 24/5 with Unibet going at 33/20 to score at any time. Villa’s 3-1 win makes them 18/1 over William Hill.

• Leeds can boost their promotion chances with a win at Millwall, while Derby can take maximum points at Coventry. Pin them by Wednesday evening.

MORE : Transfer failure with “overweight” fired Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag, who did not want to sign a contract

MORE : Sky Sports reporter criticized for strange digs at new Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim

MORE : Chelsea failed Enzo Fernandez, sparking interest from European giants

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and Google. Privacy Policy And Terms of Use apply.