12:30pm: Aston Villa v Arsenal Bet Builder
Arsenal to Win
Over 2.5 Goals
Bukayo Saka Anytime Assist
Eddie Nketiah to Have Two or More Shots on Target
A Bet Builder with these bets pays at approximately 13/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
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Luckily for Arsenal fans, this isn’t a press release but a mere statement of fact as Aston Villa entertain the Gunners this weekend.
And the irony being that he now has a bigger part to play in an Arsenal title push than he ever had while at the club.
Now the harsh treatment he received from the media and the meme-ification of his pronunciations of English words means you’d tend to hope he nicks a result here, but for the sake of being objective in the quest of landing a few quid, let’s dispel it.
Saturday 12:30pm: Aston Villa v Arsenal
TV: BT Sport 1
This is now Arsenal’s most important game of the season. And it seems strange to suggest that given they played City on Wednesday but the immediate aftermath of that game has put their task into focus and they simply have to respond to that now.
Perhaps is the game where you can confirm whether or not you’re seriously going to cope with the run-in, and for Arsenal, it would be getting a decade-old monkey off their back.
If the Arteta project has truly worked, you’ll see it here. If it hasn’t, you’ll see it here in slightly funnier fashion. To the Bet Builder!
Arsenal to Win
Arsenal need to play teams who aren’t under pressure.
The Brentford nonsense is laughable due to the VAR review or lack thereof so I tend to discount it. But intensity is the thing that beats Arsenal, whereby the past would suggest that it’s the lack of intensity in the Arsenal dressing room that would be their undoing.
Everton away is the prime example of a side who will press them effectively and not hand them time on the ball. Newcastle were the same because it was a chance for the club to signify a change of intent, much like this game is for Arsenal.
Villa? The ideal scenario. Manager is comfortable. The club is comfortable. There’s no real aspiration to chase. Arsenal win.
Over 2.5 Goals
Villa have kept more clean sheets away from home this year than at Villa Park, primarily because they have the squad in the final third that should suggest they overload – but ultimately don’t have the defensive talent to accommodate one-v-ones.
Teams that have been overly ambitious in games against Arsenal have generally been slapped for it, because their use of space is as good as City’s.
Brentford and Bournemouth are the best examples of this – games in which Arsenal ran out 3-0 winners on both occasions.
Villa have scored in each of their last nine games, though. And they’ve too many players who can score in low-xG situations to back them to be goalless.
Bukayo Saka Anytime Assist
I’d have been disappointed with a lot of what Arsenal did against City but Saka is the one player who always seems to produce in big moments, whether it be at the World Cup or with his club.
Perhaps his youth with the experienced heads around him kept him away from grabbing games by the scruff but I think he’s seen with the wobble that he’s just going to have to carry the ball.
It’s almost like banking on Eddie Nketiah to be the placement for Gabriel Jesus wasn’t the best option.
Eddie Nketiah to Have Two or More Shots on Target
But while saying that, he’s still the No. 9 in a side who are incredibly good at playing slip balls in between the defensive line and the goalkeeper.
Inexperienced footballers generally react badly to key moments going against them, and Nketiah can take a bit of blame for that – his header in the first half being a good example of same.
So I’d expect him to overcompensate coming off the back of a missed opportunity.
Aston Villa v Arsenal Bet Builder
Arsenal to Win
Over 2.5 Goals
Bukayo Saka Anytime Assist
Eddie Nketiah to Have Two or More Shots on Target
A Bet Builder with these bets pays at approximately 13/1 with Paddy Power. CLICK HERE TO ADD IT TO YOUR BETSLIP.
*All prices are bang up to date with our snazzy widgets, while odds in copy are accurate at time of publishing but subject to change
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