Wolves v Arsenal Tips: Bet on Wolves to prey on Arsenal with fatigue factor coming into play
Wolves continue their conquest for European qualification on Saturday tea time when they host Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal at Molyneux. Both teams come into this one off the back of three wins and it looks quite an interesting betting proposition on first glance. Betfair and PaddyPower make the hosts a top price of 13/10 for the win with the draw available at 23/10. A fourth straight win for the Gunners can be backed at 12/5 with bet365 in a game that they must win to stand a chance of still finishing inside the top 6.
The match is live on Sky Sports Premier League and kicks off at 17:30. The race for the top four and those all elusive Champions League places has really been hotting up over the last couple of weeks and there are now just three points separating Leicester in third and Wolves in sixth. Having a look at the Premier League top four betting, the boys from the Black Country can be backed at 3/1 for a top four finish, with both Chelsea and Manchester United having an implied chance of 69% at 4/9.
Arsenal's injury woes have been very apparent of late and Bernd Leno remains sidelined for this one with a moderate ligament strain after the game away at Brighton. Gabriel Martinelli and Calum Chambers will be absent with injuries that will see them miss the rest of the season whilst there could be possible returns for Mesut Ozil and Lucas Torreria. Wolves on the other hand are at full strength for this one and should be well-rested having a full week to recover from their most recent game at Villa Park last weekend.
It’s not been too bad a week on the punting front so far at the time of writing and I managed to nick a little 11/10 winner on the Wolves game last week having put them up to win & under 4.5 goals in the 1-0 win over Aston Villa. Let’s hope we can continue the good run with these three football tips that I feel represent good value for Saturday’s clash with Arsenal.
Wolves are the only side to win their opening three Premier League games since the restart, which was tipped up by our columnist Russell Palmer at 15/2. I’ve spoken before how I think the Europa League being played as a tournament after the conclusion of the league season will really benefit Wolves. Not having to make trips to Europe every other Thursday at this point of this season and with a squad with not as much depth of their rivals is massively helpful.
However the Wolves train appears to be a well-oiled machine at the moment and I’m backing a win for Nuno’s side with under 4.5 goals in the game. They are unbeaten in their last eight in the league and have won five of those. Since Willy Boly’s return from injury in February they have kept seven clean sheets in their last eight, showing they can be water tight at the back.
Besides being in excellent form and being solid at the back another angle into my bet here is that Arsenal have actually played twice since Wolves last played with games against Sheffield United in the cup and Norwich at home in midweek. Yes Arsenal did win both of those games but I’m expecting a little fatigue to take its toll here and with Nuno having a full week to prepare for this one I’m happy to oppose the visitors.
Arsenal’s away record makes for pretty dismal reading, they have won just three times on the road all season with one of those being their most recent away fixture at Southampton. Yes they have looked a little better in the last few games, beating Norwich midweek, but I don’t think that is saying much. Looking at the prices for this one for a Wolves win and under 4.5 goals, Betfair had it at 6/4 and have given us a nice little boost up to 13/8, a price that looks much more attractive than the 11/10 on offer from bet365 for the outright win.
Next up I’m diving in on Ruben Neves to have one or more shots on target. We’ve all seen his capabilities when it comes to shooting from range and he’s graced us with some absolute bangers over the last couple of seasons.
Having a look into his numbers we can see that only Raul Jiminez and Diogo Jota are averaging more shots per game than Neves this season 1.9 per 90 minutes. Arsenal are the most carded side in the league this season with 68 yellows and 4 red cards and with this in mind and Neves taking free kicks for Wolves I think this only adds strength to this bet.
Skybet have this one priced at 11/10 and PaddyPower have gone 11/8 so I’ll be having a little bit of that if Neves starts. As usual if any of the players mentioned in my selections do not start I’ll have a replacement up on twitter which you can find through @BettingOddsUK or myself @AnthonyEadson.
Finally I’ve picked something out at a rather big price for the optimists out there. 33/1 with Betfair for Raul Jiminez and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to score with Kieran Tierney to be carded as part of a tasty looking Same Game Multi.
Both teams to score has landed in the last three meetings between these two so goals could well be on the agenda and first up I’ve gone for Raul Jiminez to add to his impressive tally of 24 goals in all competitions this season. He’s averaging more shots per game than any other member of the Wolves squad and I’m backing him to slot home in this one.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was named Man of the Match for the Gunners against Norwich on Wednesday, grabbing himself two goals in the process to now become favourite in the Premier League top scorer odds at around 2/1. He looked as sharp as ever and I think he should start this one. Priced at 7/5 as a single I’ve added in him to score as part of this three pronged punt.
Kieran Tierney has found his way into the referees notebook twice in just seven starts this season and being on the left hand side for Arsenal as a full back I think he’ll be in for a tough one here against Wolves. 22 players have been booked for fouling Adama Traore this season and if he were to start I’d expect Tierney’s price to shorten. However with Wolves there’s a big question mark over whether he will start, but even if he is on the bench I’m still happy to have Tierney to be carded due to the vast amounts of play that come down the right with Matt Doherty for Wolves. That rounds off at 33/1 for two scorers and a player to be carded, as usual enjoy the game and please always gamble responsibly.
