IT’S tough times at the Emirates at the moment and it looks like it’s going to get a lot worse at the weekend when Arsenal host Man City.
The Arsene Wenger “out” brigade will be in full voice on Sunday and another defeat will see the pressure mount even more on the Premier League’s longest-serving boss, and the removable object that is Wenger looks set to be in for a very difficult afternoon both on and off the pitch.
Arsenal and, for the first time in his long tenure, Wenger looks to have finally lost the respect of the majority of the fans, and more importantly certain sections of the dressing room.
Star man Alexis Sanchez has already come out publicly with his plea to leave the club and play with a side of “winners” joining Mesut Ozil and Alex Oxlaide Chamberlin, who have also expressed their desire to leave at the end of the season; that is hardly the ideal preparation ahead of one of their biggest tests of the season.
The Gunners’ have won just three times in their last 10, but alarming they’ve had SEVEN defeats in that period. The way they performed last time out in the 3-1 defeat at West Brom, with a lack of desire, heart or team spirit, and how they are as short as 2.87 with William Hill for the win at the weekend has really got me scratching my head.
City has looked good since they were dumped out of the Champions League by Monaco at the last 16 stage, which was the worst performance in Pep Guardiola’s managerial career.
They played a very big part in an entertaining 1-1 draw with Liverpool last time out, which stretched their unbeaten domestic run to 11 matches and I can’t see anything other than a City win in this one, which is a very tempting 2.36 with Paddy Power.
Embarrassment Likely for the Gunners!
I fear, with the anti-Wenger chanting, that if the home side falls behind early on, this could be a long afternoon for the Frenchman. Unlike previous times, when the Arsenal manager has had his back against the wall, he won’t get out of jail this time around, and Man City -1 at 3.20 with most bookies looks tempting as well.
For goals punters, this certainly looks one that will feature a few and over 2.5 goals and both teams to score “yes” will probably be winning bets, but have been priced up accordingly by the layers; instead, I am going to have a small wager on City to heap my misery on the Gunners’ with a 3-1 win which is 18.00 at Paddy Power.
Betfair:
Bet on Henrik Stenson to become the BMW PGA Championship Winner.
Paddypower:
Back Australia to take the Ashes home with them.
Betway:
Back Rafael Nadal to become the Mens French Open Winner.
Coral:
Back One For Arthur to win the Grand National.
Bet365:
Back Mexico to win the Confederations Cup.
