ENGLISH PREMIER BETTING PICK - MANCHESTER UNITED V ARSENAL

English Premier

2012-11-03 - Manchester United vs Arsenal

A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser

Match Preview :

It is the battle we all have been waiting for as Manchester United takes on Arsenal at the Theatre of Dreams in what will be the Match of the Week.

Arsenal are currently six points behind United in the table and the difference could be extended to nine points if they suffer a defeat here.

A win for the Red Devils will means that they will go top of the standings for the first time this season as leaders Chelsea who lost to United 3-2 at Stamford Bridge last weekend, do not play until later in the day when they travel to Swansea.

Manchester United have been in very good form - winning seven of their last eight league games, the exception being a suprise 2-3 defeat to Tottenham here at Old Trafford.

One player will take centre stage and that is the former Arsenal Captain Robin van Persie who will come up against his former team for the first time this season. After spending seven years with Arsenal, he departed for £24 million this summer and has adapted to life very quickly at Old Trafford.

To date he has scored seven goals after nine starts to show why he was the man Sir Alex Ferguson so badly wanted despite stiff competition from Manchester City.

Arsenal's start to the season has been mixed, with a 4-3-2 record, and generally it could be said that Arsenal have missed RVP's cutting edge up front with the Gunners replacements of Lukas Podolski and Oliver Giroud taking time to settle into English football.

As such Arsenal have scored just 14 goals in their first nine league matches, a total that is the lowest of the top seven sides, although Arsenal do hold the best defensive record in the league with just 6 goals conceded.

Arsenal have done well in their bigger away day tests in the Premier League this season, winning 2-0 at Liverpool, and drawing 1-1 away at Manchester City.

But overall, this Arsenal team look to be in (another) rebuilding phase and it's fair to say that while a top four spot is an achievable target - winning the Premier league title seems beyond them this season.

HEAD TO HEAD

Last season we were treated to 10 goals as Manchester United beat The Gunners by 8-2 in what will have been Arsene Wenger's unforgettable defeat at Old Trafford.

For the record, Manchester United have won four of the last six league clashes with Arsenal at Old Trafford - with Arsenal's last success a 1-0 win in 2006.

Furthermore the two goals Arsenal scored in their 8-2 defeat was the only time they scored two in one game which accounted for the 10 in 20 Premiership visits to Old Trafford.

Team News :

Manchester United Team News :
The hosts have no fresh injuries despite the two high scoring and bad tempered back to back matches against Chelsea. Defender Chris Smalling is still recovering and doing light training in his recovery from a broken metatarsal, as this match comes too soon for him.

Fellow centre-back Phil Jones (knee) is also sometime away from returning while another defender, Nemanja Vidic (knee), and midfielder Shinji Kagawa (knee) remain out of the side. Sir Alex Ferguson who rested his key players in the midweek League Cup defeat is expected to restore his key players for this clash.

Arsenal Team News :
Arsenal are set to return to their more recognized team after their youngsters managed to produced something magical as they came back 4-0 down to win 7-5 against Reading.

England midfielder Jack Wilshere and full-back Bacary Sagna are in contention, but forward Theo Walcott is only expected back on the bench despite scoring a hat-trick against Reading.

Midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (hip) faces a fitness test, but winger Gervinho (ankle) will be out for around three weeks, while defender Kieran Gibbs (thigh), first-choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny (ankle), midfielder Abou Diaby (thigh) and Czech winger Tomas Rosicky (hamstring) are all out of this clash.

Predictions :

Go for Manchester United and give the 3/4 ball.

The Statistics :

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Take Manchester United to win.