Football Tips: Wily West Brom to frustrate Arsenal in our 19/1 Bet Builder

Big Sam's grinning face is not what Mikel Arteta wants to see right now.

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Is there anything more beautiful than seeing a Sam Allardyce team with no clear pockets of talent, host a side whose emphasis on being passive and overly-cautious will suffocate them under the pressure of a Hawthorns pitch that feels more narrow as the seconds tick by? I think not.

Arsenal are coming into 2021 off the back of a huge win over Chelsea – and the very best thing about that is that there’s renewed hope among the directors that just because Mikel Arteta has stood within a few feet of Pep Guardiola for a couple of years and has nice hair.

Saturday 8pm: West Brom v Arsenal
BT Sport 1 and BT Sport Extra

I’m sorry folks but that experiment is over, and there’ll come a time where they’ll start to panic, freeze Arsene Wenger, and defrost him to take over managerial duties when the Gunners have finally signed a holding midfielder who can actually tackle.

Big Sam is the perfect foil here, and a bashing in the first week of January will send Arsenal right back into relegation talk as Allardyce does what he does best – instil fear and an inevitability that his side will be clear of relegation come May, by some reason only known to God. Fancy a bet builder to set you into the new year with some tidy profit?

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The Draw

It’s hard to fancy West Brom, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. I just don’t really foresee where they could possibly grab two goals from.

The two occasions this season during which they’ve netted more than once were in a 5-2 loss to Everton and in a 3-3 draw with Chelsea. The concentration levels possessed by those two sides resemble a Labrador in the front seat of a car with the window open.

Realistically, when they’ve got to work for goals, they don’t get them – but Arsenal are just that careless to afford them opportunities from set pieces and as Liverpool found out the hard way – they’re lethal from them which is all pointing towards The Draw.

Both Teams to Score

Arsenal have goals in them – even Granit Xhaka pinged in a free-kick last week. And while the emphasis might be on crossing the ball, you feel that even the naivety of Mikel Arteta should be superseded by the knowledge that crossing the ball against a Sam Allardyce team is about as fruitful as a Rustlers supper.

They’ll breach this West Brom unit though, knowing full well that Plan A just doesn’t cut it. There may have been a touch of randomness about each goal against Chelsea, but the patterns were more encouraging and I like Both Teams to Score here.

West Brom to Score in the First Half

Arsenal aren’t like Liverpool. I realise that’s hardly the quote of the century.

But you simply can’t get at Liverpool early. Arsenal? A different story. They feel their way into games more than any other side in the league and that’s a contributing factor to how deflated they get and often cough up results they’ve no business doing.

The first goal for them is such a crucial element because 90% of what they do is try and keep the ball. It’s harder to do that when you’re losing because you need to take risks. Expect West Brom to Score in the First Half.

Arsenal not to Score in the First Half

By the same token – expect the second half onslaught to come from Arsenal as they go down the tunnel at half-time and receiving a light grilling after not scoring the first half from a manager who, presumably, doesn’t possess the Alex Ferguson levels of testosterone.

*All odds in copy correct at time of publication and they’re always bang on with our clever live betting banners.

Our Bet Builder for West Brom v Arsenal

The Draw
Both Teams to Score
West Brom to Score in the First Half
Arsenal not to Score in the First Half

These four selections in a Bet Builder will give you odds of around 19/1 with Paddy Power.

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