Carew’s return makes Aston Villa big at 23/10 to beat Arsenal

Aston Villa’s chances of claiming victory against Arsenal are in line to get a massive boost with John Carew set to return to action from a calf injury and the 23/10 on a home win is looking increasingly tempting.

Arsenal’s defence has continued to look shaky this season and it appears that manager Arsene Wenger is still to address what has been the weakest element of his team for arguably the last five years.

They may have already struggled against the pace of Villa’s Ashley Young and Gabby Agbonlahor in attack, but the return of Carew is likely to present them with a different problem.

Arsenal have already lost at home to Newcastle when the defence failed to cope with the physical nature of Andy Carroll and Carew’s strength is sure to bring to light the same frailties.

The Norwegian giant has missed Villa’s last four games because of the injury and it could not have come at a worse time for Gerard Houllier as he was one of a number of senior players to be sidelined, particularly in attack.

Carew has managed an hour for Villa’s reserves prior to the visit of Arsenal and this should ensure that he will play some part in troubling Arsenal’s defence.

Villa have not won any of their last 11 home games against Arsenal, but perhaps will not get a better chance of doing so as the visitors have injury problems of their own, including to Cesc Fabregas.

Carew will also be up for the game as he is still waiting for his first goal this season, despite being Villa’s top scorer across all competitions for all of the last three campaigns.

Carew can be backed at 7/1 to be the first goalscorer against Arsenal, while he is 9/4 to find the target at any point within the 90 minutes.

A £10 bet on the scorecast of Aston Villa winning 2-1 and Carew scoring the game’s first goal will result in winnings of £500. New Ladbrokes customers can sign up here for a free £10 bet.