@ZAPunter provides his betting tips for the English Premier League match between Watford and Arsenal which takes place on Sunday 15th September
WATFORD VS. ARSENAL, SUNDAY 17:30
Watford welcome Arsenal to Vicarage Road on Sunday after the international break which saw some strange changes for the Hornets. Gracia was fired by the club after the owners deemed he couldn’t take the club forward any more. Then they went and appointed former manager Flores to turn things around at the club. Flores is known for his emphasis on work rate and defensive structure, so Watford should see an improvement in their defence, but this weekend’s match has come to fast. Emery has yet to find a balance in his team, playing excellent attacking football, but losing their structure and concede the ball way too often which leads to conceding goals. They will be hoping they avoid dreaded “new manager bounce” when they face Watford this weekend.
WATFORD:
The Hornets have had a terrible start to the campaign, sitting at the bottom of the table and conceding goals for fun. Everyone knew it was only going to be a matter of time before Gracia was going to be sacked, as their owners don’t give managers time to improve or adjust. With former manager Flores coming back, they will be hoping he can increase their work rate and make them defensively solid at the back. Their expected goals stats so far this season is: xGf – 1.31 and xGa – 1.8, they have had the chances to score a lot more, but didn’t take it and they have been very poor at the back. Main striker and club captain Deeney is still unavailable this weekend, but Capoue should be back in the squad. Flores might go with former Arsenal man Welbeck to cause his old club some problems.
ARSENAL:
Arsenal has been very profitable for everyone who has followed my blog bets (especially the draw vs Tottenham) and hopefully they will be once again this weekend. In my opinion the Gunners have been the best team if we take away Liverpool and Manchester City in the Premier League. They played some excellent football vs Tottenham when they were 2-0 down and Emery will be hoping to build on it this weekend. Arsenal’s expected goals: xGf – 1.45 and xGa – 1.75, which shows they might have been lucky with a few results and that they still haven’t sorted out their defensive problems. Arsenal has still not reached their full potential on attack and more will be expected from their front 3. Great news for Arsenal fans this has been that Bellerin and Tierney is back in training, but won’t be ready for this weekend. Xhaka and Torreira are both doubts for the game, but Willock is likely to return.
PROBABLE LINE-UPS:
Watford: 3-4-2-1
Foster,
Dawson, Kabasele, Cathcart,
Janmaat, Doucoure, Cleverley, Femenia,
Hughes, Pereyra,
Gray.
Arsenal: 4-3-3
Leno,
Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Luiz, Kolasinac,
Willock, Ceballos, Guendouzi,
Pepe, Aubameyang, Lacazette.
PREDICTION:
This is my favourite game of the week from a betting perspective and hopefully will get us to the window once again! I expect both teams to come out flying and playing to win. I don’t think Watford will improve significantly in defence and Arsenal will remain suspect at the back. This will be a great opportunity for that Arsenal front 3 to show their quality vs a new defensive structure in Watford. The Hornets players will want to impress under new management and will need a good result to jump start their survival campaign. Yes, another fixture I expect a lot of goals and hopefully another best bet winner!
BETTING:
BEST BET: Over 3 Alternative Total Goals – 1.96 @ BetOlimp
Premier League Record: 10-6 (+5.75 Units)
Best Bet Record: 4-0 (+5.49 Units)
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change
@ZAPunter
