Sunday Football Tips: Noble to pick up a card in 13/2 Bet Builder

After this weekend there will be less than three weeks remaining of the Premier League season and there is still plenty to be decided at both ends of the table. Three matches take place on Sunday and we’ve asked @AnthonyEadson to provide us with his Bet Builder Tips for the afternoon. 

Both his selections this week come from the London Stadium where West Ham welcome Arsenal. At the time of writing, the double can be backed at just over 13/2 with bet365, although it may be worth checking team news one hour prior to the game to check the players involved are starting.

West Ham suffered a 2-1 defeat on home soil in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday evening. That defeat means it’s just one win in their last six in all competitions for the Hammers and they face an Arsenal side who come into this match off the back of victories against Chelsea and Manchester United. 

Thursday’s game will have taken plenty out of West Ham, and with more time to prepare I expect Arsenal to put in a really strong showing as they continue their pursuit of a top-four finish. Eddie Nketiah has started the last two matches for the Gunners and put in a tremendous display ten days ago when scoring a brace at Stamford Bridge in the 4-2 win over Chelsea.

I’m backing Nketiah to have Over 1.5 shots against West Ham on Sunday. The 22-year-old may have only started eight games for Arsenal this season, but across those matches he is averaging 3.12 shots per game, having let off 25 in total. 

Nketiah managed five shots against Chelsea in his most recent away game and with West Ham feeling the fatigue factor after a European semi-final, I’m confident that Arsenal can rack up the attempts here. This same selection is priced at just 1/18 with Betfair, compared to 8/13 with bet365. 

I’ll be doubling Nketiah to have Over 1.5 shots in the match with Mark Noble to be carded which pays just over 13/2. With the focus on the Europa League for the Hammers I expect the likes of Michail Antonio, Jarrod Bowen, and Declan Rice to all be rested. Mark Noble should slot into the side in place of Rice, just like he did in the game against Chelsea last weekend, making two fouls before being hooked off just after an hour.

Over the last few seasons Noble has made most of his appearances when coming off the bench, and has only been booked once this term which came in the League Cup. A player who has previously hit double figures for yellow cards in a single campaign (2016/2017), the now 34-year-old looks a good price with bet365 at 15/4, with other firms mostly closer to the 2/1 mark. In his career he has 102 yellow cards in 564 appearances and I’ll be hoping he can add one more to his tally before retiring at the end of the season. 

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