English Premier
2010-02-20 - Arsenal vs Sunderland
A Sports Betting Pick by Lamps
Football: England, Premier League 2009/2010
Saturday, 20th February 2010 - Kickoff 3pm
Arsenal
Last 5 Games at Home : W3-D1-L1 F11-A7
After losing at home to Man United (3-1) and then at Stamford Bridge (2-0) most pundits wrote Arsenal off and decided this is a two horse title race, since then United and Chelsea have dropped points and the Gunners are right back in it trailing Chelsea by 6 points. With a very favourable set of fixtures to come starting with Sunderland on Saturday it is essential that they keep the pressure on the top two.
At the Emirates Stadium, the Gunners have been near perfect, in 13 games they have 10 wins with 2 defeats, unfortunately for them the 2 losses have been to the only two teams above them in the league, United and Chelsea but they have beat everyone else. In the 13 games they have amassed a huge 36 goals which is over 2.50 goals a game!
This team simply outscores its opponents almost Brazil like, Chelsea and United needed 3 goals each to beat Arsenal at home whilst Everton, who drew here needed two goals, and if you want to take something from the Emirates you realistically need 2 goals or more. For any visiting team, that is a scary prospect and I can’t see Arsenal dropping their high standards for the visit of Sunderland.
When looking at Arsenal’s record against bottom half of the table teams we can see that beating the “scrappy” teams is no problem, in 12 games against the bottom of the table sides the Gunners have 9 wins and only 1 defeat scoring 36 goals at an average of 3 a game! At the other end, Arsene Wenger’s side have kept it tight conceding 11 goals which is less than a goal a game, straight away using just these obvious stats a 3-1 score line is probable and something like this on Saturday wouldn’t surprise me.
Team news for Arsenal is that Abou Diaby has suffered a medial ligament injury in the recent Champions League defeat at Porto. The vastly improved midfielder has joined ex-skipper Gallas, Arshavin and Eduardo on the treatment table for this game. Whilst Almunia and Song have a chance of returning, Wenger was quoted as saying Almunia has as “50-50″ chance and Song “80-20″ in favour of featuring. Assuming Song plays, he will step into Diaby’s position meaning Denilson can play a more advanced midfield role.
Further up the field it’s a 3 way fight between Walcott, Rosicky and Nasri for the starting roles supporting Bendtner up front given Eduardo, Arshavin and Van Persie’s absence. Finally at the back a rumour is that Eboue could play at right back instead of Sagna who is not fully fit with Campbell to start alongside Vermaelen in central defence ahead of Silvestre.
Predicted Arsenal Lineup :
Almunia, Eboue, Campbell, Vermaelen, Clichy; Song, Denilson, Fabregas; Walcott, Rosicky, Bendtner.
Sunderland
Last 5 Away :W0-D2-L3 F8-A16
Steve Bruce’s men currently occupy the 13th spot in the Premiership but are only 3 points above the relegation zone, they now visit the Emirates on Saturday hoping to complete a league double over Arsenal.
Now before we start believing the hype of a potential Sunderland win, things are very different now compared to mid November when they beat Arsenal at the Stadium of Light. The only away win this season has come on the opening day at Bolton, a massive 13 games ago, since then the best that the Mackems could produce is 3 draws at Man United of all places, Blackburn and last time out at Portsmouth.
It’s worth noting that in the 1-1 draw at Portsmouth, Sunderland played the game with 11 v 10 for a long time and still didn’t win this is not a team to back on the road right now.
I recently wrote a preview for the Chelsea – Sunderland game and like in this preview, I can only talk about the one positive at this club and that for me is Darren Bent. I said that he’s scored against all the top 4 teams back then and had scored more than half of Sunderland’s goals, a few games on and he still is the main man and goal threat for the visitors.
Sunderland has scored in total a pretty average 32 goals in 25 games this year, Darren Bent has 15 of the 32 which is incredible considering he’s often playing in a 4-4-2 along side Jones who has a decent 7 goals to his name. Bent has hit the back of the net in 12 games which is about a goal every other game, of his 15 goals 5 have come against top 4 sides, a record few can match and I think if Sunderland are to get anything from this Bent will be the man on the score sheet.
Team news is that Sunderland has lost Andy Reid for a month with a hamstring injury whilst recent signing Benjani is a doubt with flu. Other absentees include key midfielders Cattermole and Meyler serving bans. Cattermole is a huge loss and he is great at breaking up attacks and is sure to put in a few tackles to disrupt the likes of Fabregas.
Steve Bruce is hopeful that John Mensah will be able to return to the side but definitely has Anton Ferdinand, Kieran Richardson and Fraizer Campbell all back in contention for the Emirates. With winger Reid out we may Frazier Campbell playing out wide, which could be a risk given the lack of games he’s played this year.
Predicted Sunderland Lineup :
Gordon, Hutton, Turner, Kilgallon, McCartney; Cana, Zenden, Malbranque, Campbell; Jones, Bent.
The Betting Verdict :
Arsenal has a growing injury list of late but even so this Sunderland team is so toothless at the moment that I can’t give them any credit.
If Sunderland couldn't even beat Portsmouth with 11 v 10, then I don't give the Black Cats much chance against Arsenal.
Sunderland might keep it close for a while but once Arsenal score they should run out comfortable winners. But if you do have a soft spot for Sunderland then try a Bent to score anytime bet.
The Pick :
Arsenal 3-1 Sunderland
BEST BETTING TIP :
Take Arsenal to win at 1.25Consider try Darren Bent to score anytime @ 4.20 at Paddy Power
