Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers Betting Tip & Odds: It is important not to get swept up in all the romanticism surrounding Wolves’ triumphs over Chelsea and Manchester United recently. The fact of the matter is that Arsenal are clearly the better side and should win. This is an away match for Wolves, who have proven to be pretty terrible on the road this season, suffering ten defeats and picking up just one draw and one win. It’s not good reading for Wolves fan, and with the destructive force which Arsenal can produce at home, it should be an easy three points for the Gunners, even though they won’t be at full strength. The passing game should easily crack what is still a shaky Wolves back line, and you expect plenty of clear cut chances to come the way of the home side. Wolves will huff and puff, but Arsenal will blow them away, just as they did in the comfortable 2-0 away win at Wolves in November. Arsenal -1.5 Asian Handicap for 3/4 at Bet365 looks decent value.
Arsenal to win: 1/4 at Boylesports
Draw: 5/1 at Bet365
Wolverhampton Wanderers to win: 14/1 at Bet365
EPL Match Preview: Well, worth a little look at this match after the heroics of Wolverhampton Wanderers last week, as they ended Manchester United’s unbeaten run from the start of the season. After also beating Chelsea recently, it is Arsenal’s turn to try and take points off the struggling Wolves, who only seem to fulfill potential when playing against top sides in the league. Granted, this may be a different kettle of fish, because those two major Wolves triumphs came at home, and on the road, they have won just one match all season. So, that all points to a strong three home points for the Gunners, who missed a golden opportunity to close the gap on United after Wolves had done Arsene Wenger’s men a huge favour. Arsenal blew a 4-0 lead away at Newcastle in a remarkable game, giving away two penalties and handing a huge second hand comeback to the Andy Carroll-less Newcastle. That was a shocker for Arsenal and their title ambitions, in what was a pretty crazy goal fest of a weekend in the Premier League. Arsenal have been going well at home this season, but they have had three slip ups at the Emirates this season, and can Wolves perform another of their major heroic efforts? Despite the euphoria of the United win, you would still bank on Arsenal pulling out the stops and firing in a comfortable victory here. The gap at the top between the Gunners and United is down to four points, and if they hadn’t have blown that 4-0 half time lead when Abou Diaby got sent off, a two point gap going into this match would have made for great reading for Arsenal.
While Manchester United will be embroiled in a tough Manchester derby on Saturday, Arsenal have another chance to capitalise on any loss of points from either side. Naturally they would want a City win, and with victory over Wolves, that would bring Arsenal to within one point. It all sounds very feasible. Despite the upsets Wolves have caused, there is still such an immense gulf in class between Arsenal and Wolves. The Gunners have over twice as many points as Wolves have managed to pick up, plus over twice as many goals scored. Arsenal’s fluent, free flowing passing and attacking movement off the ball is usually more than enough for any defence to cope with, and Wolves, still struggling against relegation, will likely come unstuck again. There’s strong stats to back up an Arsenal home win here, as they haven’t been defeated by Wolves in the last sixteen encounters between the two sides. That run of good form against the Midlands side includes seven straight league wins. There really isn’t a lot of expectancy that it won’t continue on the weekend. The game at Newcastle was a bit of anomaly and can be wiped off the slate come kick off here. The Arsenal defence and system is a lot stronger than that, and they have been ruthless when playing teams from the bottom half of the league, winning 12 out of 14 matches this season. They’ll miss Diaby with his ban, and again will be without top scorer Nasri in the side. However, Robin Van Persie has come into a fine run of form in front of goal, firing in eight goals in his last six Premier League matches.
So will there be another fairy tale result on the cards for Wolves? Unlikely. Winning away from home is a lot different from trying to scrap for points in your own back yard with your fans behind you. The Emirates is a daunting place to go, because Arsenal have the ability to tear fragile defences apart. It is Arsenal who go into this match with all of the firepower at their disposal, and with Wolves’ inability to even hang on for draws away from home this year, it points to nothing but an Arsenal win in this match. If Wolves were capable of beating Manchester United and Arsenal in back to back games, then they wouldn’t be in the position which they are in right now. That is fighting against relegation, and still remain one of the favourites to take the drop. Manager Mick McCarthy hasn’t managed to pick up a victory against Arsenal in his career, in fact, has lost all matches against them. While there are some signs of hope for Wolves, it is important to not forget that the Manchester United win came after a streak of three straight defeats for Wolves, with Bolton, Liverpool and Manchester City seeing them off. They are also on a run of three straight away defeats, started by a loss at West Ham, the only team beneath them in the league at the moment. Note: Arsenal have not conceded a goal in the first 15 minutes of play in the league all season
It is highly unlikely that Wolves will be good enough to go to the Emirates and take three points, so is it worth looking at them for a draw? Not really, as Wolves have picked up the fewest amount of draws of all Premier League teams this season, so that pretty much rules that one out. They clearly raise their game when they are playing top opposition, which begs the question why they can’t put that same heart into playing weaker opposition. That’s one for McCarthy to figure out. Wolves record at Arsenal is pretty miserable in the head to head statistics, as the Midlands side has won just eight matches of 53 played there. The last time Wolves picked up a point off Arsenal was back in the 81/82 season with a draw at Molineux. Following that, there have been eleven straight wins for Arsenal over Wolves in all competitions, with the Gunners putting almost twice as many goals as Wolves in those meeting. Three points to Arsenal it really should be.
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Arsenal v Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League Betting Statistics
Last 5 Head to Head
Wolves 0, Arsenal 2
Arsenal 1, Wolves 0
Wolves 1, Arsenal 4
Wolves 1, Arsenal 3
Arsenal 3, Wolves 0
Arsenal have an 67% win percentage at home in the league this season
Wolverhampton Wanderers have an 8% win percentage away from home in the league this season
Arsenal are on a streak of 5 home matches with no defeat
Wolverhampton Wanderers are on a streak of 11 away matches with no draw
Arsenal have scored 27 goals, and conceded 12 at home
Wolverhampton Wanderers have scored 9 and conceded 24 goals in their away matches
Arsenal average 2.2 goals per match at home this season
Wolverhampton Wanderers average 0.7 goals per match away from home this season
Arsenal have scored the bulk of their goals in the 76-90 minute bracket
Wolverhampton Wanderers have scored the majority of their goals in the 31-45 and 76-90 minute brackets
Arsenal have opened the scoring in 64% of their matches
Wolverhampton Wanderers have scored first in 40% of their matches
Arsenal 2010/11 top scorer: Nasri, 9
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2010/11 top scorer: Ebanks-Blake, Fletcher, 4
Arsenal 2010/11 Season Form: P25 W15 D5 L5 GF54 GA27 Pts 50 (2nd)
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2010/11 Season Form: P25 W7 D3 L15 GF26 GA43 Pts 24 (19th)
