English Premier
2011-12-27 - Arsenal vs Wolves
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
Football: English Premier League
Tuesday 27 December 2011 - Kick Off 3pm
Arsenal
Arsenal would have been very happy watching the results roll in from the Boxing Day games after their own home game was postponed due to a tube strike that was supposed to hit the Capital on Monday. The Gunners saw both Chelsea and Liverpool fail to win home games against teams they would have expected to beat, and now it is up to Arsene Wenger to ensure it does not happen to his own side.
Wenger all but ruled out the team challenging for the title after a recent loss to Manchester City, but I still think it would be a big achievement if he secures Champions League football again for Arsenal. The team have a chance to move level on points with Tottenham in 3rd place, at least for a few hours, and move above Chelsea if they can win this game. Arsenal are 6-1-1 at the Emirates Stadium this season, scoring 14 goals and conceding 5, giving them the 3rd best home defence in the League this year so far.
Results look like they have been a little mixed for the side of late, but a closer examination shows that most of their recent defeats have been when playing weaker teams in less important games. There has been some vast improvements in their League form after a bad start to the year and the have picked up 25 points from their last 30 available since a 2-1 loss at Tottenham. The Gunners have won 6 of their last 7 games at home since their only loss here in the League to Liverpool.
Injuries are still having a big impact on the squad, particularly in defensive areas and they remain without Andre Santos, Bacary Sagna, Johan Djourou, Carl Jenkinson and Kieran Gibbs. Jack Wilshire and Abou Diaby are other long-term absentees.
Wolves
Mick McCarthy will be glad his team remain out of the relegation zone after the results on Boxing Day, although it will be interesting to see what kind of team he lines up considering they have a huge game at Bolton Wanderers coming up this weekend. We all remember Wolves sending out a much weaker side at Old Trafford a couple of years ago a few days before playing Burnley in a much more winnable game.
Wolves remain in 17th place in the Premier League, still 1 point clear of Wigan who were shelled at Old Trafford on Monday. They have a poor 1-1-6 record away from Molineux this season, scoring just 6 goals and conceding 17. Only Fulham have scored less goals away from home so far this season.
The team earned a big point in their last game when scoring late to draw 2-2 with Norwich City at home. Wolves have really struggled away from home, losing their last 6 games in the League, but they have not been faced with an easy run of games. In that time, they have lost at Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United, with the last 3 opponents winning by at least 2 goals.
Kevin Foley and Jody Craddock are both likely to be joining Jamie O'Hara on the sidelines until the game at Bolton. David Edwards should be passed fit, but I would not be overly surprised if he is given a few more days to rest and recuperate with the Bolton game in mind.
Head to Head
Arsenal have won their last 7 home games against Wolves in all competitions, stretching back to the early 1980's.
They have won 4 of the last 5 games by at least a couple of goals, all of these games taking place since the 2003/04 season.
Overall, Arsenal have won 7 of the last 8 games between the teams by at least 2 goals.
Prediction
Arsenal have been playing really well of late, while also picking up wins when they haven't been at their best as they did in their last game against Aston Villa.
Robin Van Persie has been in fantastic form in the entire calender year, but the layers have finally cottoned on to that fact and he is a vastly short price to score at any time in this game.
However, I do expect Arsenal to take care of Wolves with Van Persie's help, especially as the Wolves team could easily be focusing their efforts on the game against Bolton on Saturday.
Wolves have been beating by a couple of goals when visiting Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United of late, and I think they could take another loss by at least a couple of goals here.
Arsenal have managed to win by at least a couple of goals against Wolves in recent games, and I think they will be the more focused of the two teams here and will manage to do so again. On that note, I will take the Gunners to cover the - 1.75 Asian Handicap.
The Pick :
Arsenal 3-0 Wolves
