Stoke v Arsenal: hardened Gunners well-priced for away success
Published:Often accused of lacking physicality away from home, Arsenal have improved on their travels to give them the Premier League’s third best away record, and look overpriced at 10/11 to beat Stoke.
The home side’s season has been plagued with inconsistency, though their backers at 10/3 will take heart from them beating the Gunners 3-1 in this fixture last season.
It is 9/4 about the draw meanwhile, though there has never been a stalemate between these teams in eight Premier League meetings.
What is worth noting is that goals have featured in each of those eight clashes however, and four goals have occurred in four of the sides’ last five encounters.
With that in mind, the 21/10 odds about four or more goals being scored in the game are appealing, and some will take an interest in Arsenal winning a game involving three or more goals, which is a 9/4 chance.
Both teams have managed to find the net on six of the last eight times these two have met too, so plenty of interest should be paid to the 4/6 odds about both teams scoring again on Saturday.
Quite remarkably, a 3-1 scoreline has been the result in four of the teams’ past five meetings, and with Arsenal looking good for victory here, a 3-1 Gunners success looks tempting at 12/1.
Stoke were the side who triumphed via that scoreline in this fixture last season though, so some may be inclined to back a home win by that score at a lengthy 33/1 on Saturday.
Strong starts have been a feature of Arsenal’s away efforts this season however, having gone into the break behind just three times, making 19/10 odds for the away side to lead at half-time and full-time look very generous.
Newly-crowned Football Writers’ Player of the Year Robin Van Persie is 11/4 to score first, and should be backed to end a mini-drought from open play, which spans seven games.
