The return of Thierry Henry to Arsenal was the big talking point ahead of their FA Cup fixture against Leeds last weekend. It was the talismanic Frenchman who stood up and scored the winning goal of the third round tie, reigniting his passion for the club. That was a big emotional moment for Henry on his return to North London and it will be interesting to see what the Gunners legend can now produce in the Premier League. Henry is only back on loan while the MLS season is closed down and Henry will at least give Arsene Wenger some alternative attacking options up front, as they have been lacking in that area, with no-one offering support to Robin van Persie. Will boss Arsene Wenger go for a dual pronged attack of Henry and Van Persie against Swansea? Arsenal need to muster up a response to their last Premier League outing which was also on the road, as they went down 2-1 at Fulham on January 2nd. The goals have started drying up just a little bit for the Gunners, so the arrival of Henry may give them an extra spark. Arsenal have only scored more than one goal in just one of their last six Premier League matches. A trip to face Swansea is not going to be an easy one, and Arsenal haven’t secured a great record on the road this season. The Gunners have landed just four wins and a draw out of their ten away fixtures this season, and they have conceded a goal in each of their last three games away from the Emirates. Their have conceded a tremendous amount of goals on their travels this season, 22 in total which is an average of 2.20 per game. What has seen them through has been the twenty away goals they have scored, so there is potential for a pretty tight game at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday. The Gunners have only managed just two clean sheets out of ten on the road, and 80% of their away games have, not surprisingly ended over 2.5 goals. The Gunners need the input of Robin van Persie and there is the feeling that a victory will probably just come by a one goal margin. With Arsenal suffering two defeats out of their last three away fixtures, this match is by no means a foregone conclusion. They are still in a scrap for fourth place at the moment, and obviously won’t want to lose any more ground to the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool who are sandwiching them.
Swansea are ticking along a nice enough pace, which should see them maintain their Premier League status if they keep up their form. The Swans are now undefeated in their last three matches in the league and go into Swansea v Arsenal betting on the back of a well earned three points away at Aston Villa at the start of the year. It is Swansea’s home record which is still making impressive reading in the league, as they have suffered just one defeat at the Liberty Stadium this season. For Premier League new boys, that is a pretty great stat to look at for the Welsh club’s fans. Swansea have won four, drawn five and lost just that one game at home, and the only side to beat them on their home turf has been Manchester United, who scraped a 1-0 win there. There have been just four goals conceded by Swansea at home, as they are proving to be a pretty tough team to break down, and conceding at just 0.4 goals per game, should give them hope of taking another important point off one of the top teams in the Premier League, just as they did against Spurs during the festive period. The Swans have only netted twelve times themselves in their ten home games at just over 1 goal per game, but with 60% of their home matches ending in clean sheets for them, they will make life difficult for the Gunners. Eighty percent of Swansea’s home games have ended Under 2.5 goals this season, and with their very attractive style of football they will be confident of making use of the fortress Liberty Stadium. There hasn’t been many too goals flowing for the Swans of late, and boss Brendan Rodgers will be looking for his defence to stand tall again. But having failed to score in five of their last ten matches, they will be looking to top scorer Danny Graham to overshadow the Premier League return of Thierry Henry.
Swansea v Arsenal Betting Odds
Swansea to win: 4/1 at Totesport
Draw: 11/4 at BetFred
Arsenal to win: 5/6 at VC Bet
While the return to the Premier League for Thierry Henry will be in focus, online bookmaker Paddy Power have a Money Back Special on Swansea v Arsenal betting surrounding Robin van Persie. If Robin van Persie scores the final goal of the match, then Paddy Power will refund lost stakes on all losing First Goalscorer, Last Goalscorer, Correct Score and Scorecast singles on the match. Great coverage on the betting for this match, with the bets such as Van Persie 3/1 and Henry 9/2 in the First Goalscorer market. Popular bookie Paddy Power offer a free £50 bet for new customers registering an account. The bookie will match the value of your first stake on a new account with a free bet, up to the maximum value of £50.
