English Premier
2011-11-05 - Arsenal vs West Brom
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football : English Premier League
Saturday 5 November 2011 - Kickoff 3pm
Arsenal
Arsenal have really picked up form in recent weeks and much of their success is down to the Captain Robin Van Persie, a hat-trick hero in the surprising 3-5 win at Stamford Bridge last week. The 0-0 draw with Marseille on Tuesday night showed that this team is very much a different side when their talisman is in the starting XI than when he is not.
After being ruled out as a title challenger, and in some cases as a threat to the top 4, the Gunners have surged up the table in recent weeks and are now 7th with only 3 points between themselves and 4th placed Chelsea. The title still looks a long shot with both Manchester clubs a further 4 points beyond them at this stage, but Arsenal are definitely moving in the right direction. They are 4-0-1 at home this season, scoring 9 goals and conceding 4.
The team had won 8 of their previous 9 games in all competitions before the 0-0 draw with Marseille, a result that also ended a 7 game winning run at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal have won 4 home games in a row in the Premier League since losing 0-2 to Liverpool.
Kieran Gibbs and Abou Diaby are both likely to return in the next Premier League game against Norwich City, while Bacary Sagna and Jack Wilshire remain long-term absentees. Marouane Chamakh looks set to miss out, while Robin Van Persie should be restored to the starting line up after being left on the bench against Marseille.
West Brom
West Brom were a little aggrieved with the performance of the officials last week in their loss to Liverpool, but that should not disguise the fact the team started incredibly slowly in that game and gave themselves a mountain to climb when going in to half time 2 goals behind.
The defeat saw West Brom drop down to 13th in a congested Premier League- the team have picked up 11 points from their first 10 games this season. They have a decent away record where they are 2-1-2 this season, scoring 6 goals and conceding 8.
After a run of 1 win in 6 games in all competitions, West Brom bounced back with back to back League victories before the loss to Liverpool last week. The Baggies have lost just 1 of their last 6 away games in all competitions and they are unbeaten in their last 3 within the regulation period. West Brom beat Aston Villa 1-2 last time out and also scored 2 at Sunderland before that, although they couldn't hold on to a 2 goal lead on that occasion.
Paul Scharner and Shane Long will both be missing for Roy Hodgson's side, but they have no other injury worries for the game.
Head to Head
Arsenal and West Brom were involved in 2 entertaining games last season.
The Baggies took a 0-3 lead in their game here before Arsenal fought back and just fell short in a 2-3 loss.
West Brom also took a 2-0 lead in the home game, but on that occasion Arsenal managed to claw the game back and earn a share of the spoils.
The Gunners had won 3 and drawn 1 of their previous 4 home games against West Brom before the loss last season.
Prediction
Arsenal should be good enough to pick up the 3 points in this game, but I think the price is a little short as I am not 100% convinced that their defence will not offer West Brom a chance to get something from this game.
Both Sunderland and Stoke City were only seen off thanks to late goals in games played at the Emirates and so I will avoid taking the home win at the odds offered.
What is noticeable to all is the form Robin Van Persie has been in, and he has scored 6 goals in the last 3 Premier League games played here. The layers have cottoned on to that fact by pricing him strong odds-on to score at anytime in this game, although the standout price of 1.90 at Unibet is awfully tempting.
Instead of that, I am going to put a very small interest in the Dutch striker scoring the first goal of the game at a tasty looking 4.33 at Victor Chandler. RvP has been starring for the Gunners so much of late and is the regular penalty taker for the side as well as dominating direct free-kicks and it looks a price that will be a lot shorter in the coming weeks and one I would like to try and take advantage of.
The Statistics :
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pick :
Arsenal 2-1 West Brom
FIXED ODDS BETTING TIP :
I'll back Robin Van Persie to score first @ 4.33 (Bet365)(Indicated as [b]"RvP SF"[/b] on the odds box over on the right)
