Arsenal v Stoke: Defending to go out the window here

Arsenal look less and less likely to make the top-four with every passing week and Liverpool highlighted their defensive incompetency once more in their 2-2 draw at the Emirates.

Stoke are next in line to try their hand at making the Gunners backline look stupid and a price of 7/1 says they leave north London with all three points in tow.

The current form of the Potters suggests that this won’t happen and simultaneously justifies the hosts’ 2/5 for victory, however, there is an excellent chance that Tony Pulis’ men bag an unlikely first goal in the match.

The Gunners have fallen behind in each of their last five Premier League games and, although Stoke’s record is only fractionally better in this department, meaning there’s just as good a case to argue for Arsenal breaking the deadlock, the visitors’ price is far superior at 27/20.

This clash between footballing Ying and Yang boasts more than one interesting bet at a strong price. Naturally, you don’t fancy Stoke to go anywhere and score goals, so you could be forgiven for chalking up any suggestion that they may bag over 1.5 goals away at Arsenal as sheer, unadulterated lunacy.

But considering that Arsene Wenger’s men have presented at least two goals to six of their previous nine opponents, the 7/2 offering for the away side’s tally to cross this line should make it seem a little more plausible.

Alas, seeing the ball hit the back of the net on more than occasion does not guarantee any Stoke joy in the capital. They’ve lost 10 on the bounce away at Arsenal, conceding an average of three goals in each game across this period. They’re 6/4 to score at least this many once more, while a home win with over 2.5 goals in the game pays out at 1/1.

A slightly shorter price is the 10/11 for both teams to score in this one and is well worth a punt. Stoke are carrying on like the brainy kid at school who wants in with the in-crowd and pretending they never learned anything in defensive class, while trusting Arsenal to keep a clean sheet is a fool’s errand.

All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date