English Premier
2009-05-16 - Manchester United vs Arsenal
A Sports Betting Pick by Gooner
Football: England, Premier League
Saturday 16th May 2009 - Kickoff 12:45
The lunchtime kickoff is also the feature game of the weekend, as Manchester United host Arsenal looking to clinch another league title.
Man United (1st - Home Rec : 16-1-1 43-13
Manchester United continue to be a match for all the challenges put in front of them, and with a 2-0 win in the Manchester derby over City, and a 2-1 win at Wigan in midweek, United now need just one more point to clinch a 3rd straight domestic league title.
This season it's been a less domineering effort from United, there have been plenty of 1-0 wins, and hard fought games, but the depth of United's squad has shown through and the positive results have kept coming.
With Ronaldo, Rooney, and the under-rated Tevez continuing to pop up with goals when needed, United have plenty of match-winners upfront and a hard-nosed defensive approach as well.
Arsenal (4th - Away Rec : 9-6-3 37:21)
Arsenal's recent results have shown up manager Arsene Wenger's mistake of continuing to beleive in playing such a young squad, and a small squad.
Perhaps at the end of last season Wenger had some justification that "if only" Eduardo had not been injured then Arsenal may have won the Premier League and perhaps that influenced his (lack of) off-season purchases.
But to compete in the toughest domestic league in Europe, clubs need to have a Plan B and a Plan C, and have to be able to cater for a large injury list while playing games twice a week. Arsenal cannot.
In the last three weeks Arsenal have been shown wanting against both Chelsea and Manchester United, and although the Gunners play a ince brand of football they are missing the match-winners that win titles.
One positive note for Gooners for this match is that Arsenal are better built to play counter-attacking football, and have scored 37 away goals in the league - some 13 goals more than ManYoo.
And the fact that Arsenal have won at Chelsea (2-1) and drawn at Liverpool (4-4) in the league this season perhaps says that there is a small reason for cautious optimism.
Head to Head
Manchester United usually win this fixture in the current era, they've won it four of the last six times and scored twice in each of the wins.
When Arsenal have managed to come away with a result, they've done it by keeping a clean sheet at Old Trafford and it's difficult to see that happening this time.
United won both Champions League games against Arsenal, 1-0 here and 3-1 at the Emirates, and will be confident of gaining the reuqired point in this game.
The Betting Verdict
Manchester United need a point to clinch the league, and few will bet against them doing it, although in the last seven days we have seen in Europe that just because dominant teams need wins to claim a title - doesn't mean it's a given as both Barcelona (home 3-3) and Inter Milan (away 2-2) have found.
It's hard to see Arsenal stopping United from celebrating, although Patrice Evra may be wondering about whether he should have been spouting about "men vs babies" in the press after beating Arsenal in the European clash - as that's sure to fire up the visitors early on.
Still - the way I see it is that United are too strong all over the park - and a home win has to be the most likely result.
Betting Update :
The bookmaker odds were just about spot on IMO, but we are seeing United being backed heavily by asian handicap punters, and United have also dropped in fixed odds as European punters see possible value.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Manchester United 2-1 Arsenal
