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2011-09-20 - Arsenal vs Shrewsbury Town
A Sports Betting Pick by Addicted
Football : English Carling Cup
Tuesday, September 20th, 2011, 7:45PM GMT
PREVIEW
League 2 side Shrewsbury Town will travel to London to take on an Arsenal side in turmoil but will do so without their starting defence. Centrebacks Ian Sharps and Shane Cansdell-Sherriff are both out for this one as team captain injured himself during warm-up while Cansdell-Sheriff came off early in that 3-2 win over Port Vale.
This is a huge match for Shrewsbury, who earned the right to visit the Emirates after knocking out Premier League opposition in the previous round. Swansea City went to Shrewsbury and got beaten 3-1 and before that it was Derby County bowing out while entertaining Town.
Arsenal have not normally given this competition much importance. Last year was an exception as Wenger played more senior players than he normally would, but catastrophe struck in the final as the Gunners lost to Birmingham. The effects of that match are still being suffered by Arsenal, who have barely won a handful of league games since.
A lot of senior stars are out for this one, either via injury or just being rested. Wenger looks like he will be giving starts to Ryo, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Park Chu-Young. Chamakh should see a fair bit of time on the pitch too after his consolation goal against Blackburn on Saturday. The Moroccan striker is probably the best bet on the day to get on the scoresheet if he gets to start and I would strongly recommend having a nibble of the 1.80 available on him to net at any time.
Arsenal need something to show at the end of the season and it looks like Wenger has no choice but to show that he cares about this competition too, at least enough to not just throw on a bunch of kids. The game is played at home and they are rightly favourites to win. Anything but a win against a League 2 opponent will mark a new low in the clubs recent run and Wenger needs that like a fart under a duvet.
BETTING VERDICT
Arsenal will put immediate pressure on Shrewsbury in order to lead before Town have time to settle. An early goal will be followed up with even more pressure and I don't expect Arsenal to ease up all game. They've missed chances before when winning comfortably and it's come back and bitten them many many times.
The Arsenal win is priced down to nothing, as has the Overs. I think the best bet here is to have a punt on Arsenal to net at least 3 times against their weaker visitors. They have the talent to score a lot more than that when they get things going. Lets hope they do.
The Pick :
Arsenal to score at least 3
BEST BETTING TIP :
Team Total Goals - Arsenal OVER 2.5 @ 1.90 (Bet365)
